LINC01234 promoted malignant behaviors of breast cancer cells via hsa-miR-30c-2-3p/CCT4/mTOR signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

Despite continuous progress in treatment, recurrence and metastasis limit further improvement in the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) patients. Our aim was to search for a crucial prognostic biomarker of BC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patient data were selected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GTEx databases. Several online public databases, including Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), miRWalk, miRDB, and LncBase Predicted v.2, were used to identify potential upstream miRNAs and lncRNAs. These findings were validated through in vitro experiments.

RESULTS

A total of 1, 097 invasive BC samples and 572 normal breast tissues (including 113 samples from TCGA and 459 samples from GTEx) were collected for the study. CCT4 was not only significantly overexpressed in BC compared with normal breast tissues but also had important prognostic significance (P < 0.001). By intersecting miRWalk and miRDB and conducting correlation analysis, hsa-miR-30c-2-3p was identified as the most probable upstream miRNA of CCT4. Following an extensive assessment that included survival analysis, correlation analysis, and common binding-site prediction, LINC01234 was chosen as the most likely upstream lncRNA. In vitro experiments showed that LINC01234-siRNA inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities of BC cells. Western blot analysis further confirmed that LINC01234 promoted malignant behaviors of BC cells via the CCT4/mTOR signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

The LINC01234/hsa-miR-30c-2-3p/CCT4/mTOR axis was identified as a potential ceRNA regulatory mechanism in BC. These findings established the foundation for systematically unveiling the pathological mechanisms of BC and provided new insights for targeted therapy of BC patients.

Long non-coding RNA panel as a molecular biomarker in glioma

BACKGROUND

Glioma is one of the most malignant brain tumors, accounting for about half of the gliomas that occur in central nervous system (CNS), originates from the glial tissue of the brain. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression levels of 5 lncRNAs (MDC1-AS1, HOXA11-AS, MALAT1, CASC2, ADAMTS9-AS2) in patients with high-grade glioma in comparison with low grade glioma.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study which determined molecular biomarker on pathologic glioma samples. We examined 100 patients' pathologic block which consisted of 50 pathology samples of high-grade glioma (case group) and control group consisted of 50 pathology samples of low-grade glioma. This research was performed using real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.

RESULTS

The results showed that the expression of ADAMTS9-AS2 and HOXA11-AS genes significantly increased with increasing tumor grade. Also the expression of CASC2 gene significantly decreased with increasing tumor grade.

CONCLUSIONS

It was concluded that ADAMTS9-AS2 and HOXA11-AS and CASC2 are promising lncRNA markers in prognosis of glioma.

Long non-coding RNAs in liver diseases: Focusing on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcohol-related liver disease, and cholestatic liver disease

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of transcribed RNA molecules with the lengths exceeding 200 nucleotides, are not translated into protein. They can modulate protein-coding genes by controlling transcriptional and posttranscriptional processes. The dysregulation of lncRNAs has been related to various pathological disorders. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge of lncRNAs and their implications in the pathogenesis of three common liver diseases: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcohol-related liver disease, and cholestatic liver disease. Future studies to further define the role of lncRNAs and their mechanisms in various types of liver diseases should be explored. An improved understanding from these studies will provide us a useful perspective leading to mechanism-based intervention by targeting specific lncRNAs for the treatment of liver diseases.