Long non-coding RNA SNHG15 in various cancers: a meta and bioinformatic analysis

Caizhi Chen,Jingjing Wang,Yeqian Feng,Ye Liang,Wen Zou

doi:10.1186/s12885-020-07649-9

Abstract

BackgroundThe snoRNA host gene SNHG15 produces a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) with a short half-life and has been reported to be dysregulated in multiple cancers and has recently been found to be correlated with tumour progression. Therefore, this meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the generalised prognostic role of small nucleolar RNA host gene 15 (SNHG15) in malignancies, based on variable data from different studies.MethodsFour public databases were used to identify eligible studies. The association between prognostic indicators and clinical features was extracted and pooled to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Publication bias was measured using Begg’s test and Egger’s test, and the stability of pooled results were measured using sensitivity analysis. Additionally, an online database based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was screened to further validate our results. Ultimately, we predicted the molecular regulation of SNHG15 based on the public databases.ResultsIn total, 11 studies including 1087 patients were ultimately enrolled in our meta-analysis. We found that SNHG15 overexpression was associated with worse overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), and this was validated in the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) cohort. Moreover, increased SNHG15 expression suggested advanced TNM stage and LNM, but was not associated with age, gender, or tumour size. No publication bias or instability of the results was observed. SNHG15 was significantly upregulated in seven cancers and elevated expression of SNHG15 indicated shorter OS and DFS in five malignancies based on the validation using the GEPIA cohort. Further functional prediction indicated that SNHG15 may participate in some cancer-related pathways.ConclusionsUpregulation of lncRNA SNHG15 was notably associated with worse prognosis and clinical features, suggesting that SNHG15 might serve as a novel prognostic factor in various cancers.

Highlights

The snoRNA host gene small nucleolar RNA host gene 15 (SNHG15) produces a long non-coding RNA with a short half-life and has been reported to be dysregulated in multiple cancers and has recently been found to be correlated with tumour progression
A growing body of work has demonstrated that aberrant expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is correlated with biological processes, including tumour progression, angiogenesis, metastasis, and invasion, indicating that lncRNAs can serve as tumour suppressors or oncogenes for cancer control [4, 5]
It was found that SNHG15 could facilitate cell proliferation, invasion, and drug resistance in colorectal cancer by acting as a bifunctional MYC-regulated noncoding locus encoding an lncRNA that interacts with AIF

Summary

Introduction

The snoRNA host gene SNHG15 produces a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) with a short half-life and has been reported to be dysregulated in multiple cancers and has recently been found to be correlated with tumour progression. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the generalised prognostic role of small nucleolar RNA host gene 15 (SNHG15) in malignancies, based on variable data from different studies. LncRNA SNHG15 functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to sponge miR-153, miR-38, miR-141, and miR-141-3p, which promotes cell proliferation, migration, invasion, autophagy, and cisplatin resistance in glioma, breast cancer, osteosarcoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma [10,11,12,13]. Only one report has found SNHG15 to be downregulated in thyroid cancer tissue samples and cells, suggesting its role as a tumor suppressor and the reduced expression of SNHG15 enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro [20]

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Discussion

Conclusion