Abstract
Increasing evidence has demonstrated a significant role for long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumorigenesis. However, their functions in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) metastasis remain largely unknown. In this study, a model comparing high and low metastatic NPC cell lines (5-8F vs. 6-10B and S18 vs. S26) was constructed to determine the expression profile of lncRNAs using the microarray analysis, and we found 167 lncRNAs and 209 mRNAs were differentially expressed. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that the dysregulated mRNAs participated in important biological regulatory functions in NPC. Validation of 26 significantly dysregulated lncRNAs by qRT-PCR showed the expression patterns of 22 lncRNAs were in accordance with the microarray data. Furthermore, the expression level of ENST00000470135, which was the most upregulated lncRNA in high metastatic cell lines, was significantly higher in NPC cell lines and tissues with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and knocking down ENST00000470135 suppressed the migration, invasion and proliferation of NPC cells in vitro. In conclusion, our study revealed expression patterns of lncRNAs in NPC metastasis. The dysregulated lncRNAs may act as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for NPC.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the leading head and neck malignancies and prevalent in Southeast China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Northeast Africa and Alaska [1,2,3,4,5]
167 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) (94 upregulated and 73 downregulated; Table S1) and 209 mRNAs (162 upregulated and 47 downregulated; Table S2) were found to be differentially expressed in high metastatic cells when compared with low metastatic cells
To explore the potential function of the differentially expressed mRNAs in high metastatic cells when compared with low metastatic cells, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was performed to describe biological process (BP), cellular component (CC) and molecular function (MF; Tables S3–S5)
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the leading head and neck malignancies and prevalent in Southeast China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Northeast Africa and Alaska [1,2,3,4,5]. Metastasis is an important characteristic of malignant tumors and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths [8]. Several studies have shown that a number of lncRNAs are involved in the progression of NPC, including NEAT1, HNF1A-AS, MALAT1, HOTAIR and LINC00312 [16,17,18,19,20]. Despite this progress, the precise functions and mechanisms of lncRNAs in the metastasis of NPC still remain unclear
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