LncRNA-mRNA expression pattern in invasive pituitary adenomas: A microarray analysis

Abstract

BackgroundsLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in tumorigenesis and progression of various cancer types; however, their roles in the development of invasive pituitary adenomas (PAs) remain to be investigated.MethodslncRNA microarray was performed in three invasive and three noninvasive PAs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed, and coexpression networks between lncRNA and mRNA were constructed. Furthermore, three differentially expressed lncRNAs were selected for validation by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in PA samples. The diagnostic values of these three lncRNAs were further evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.ResultsA total of 8872 lncRNAs were identified in invasive and paired noninvasive PAs using lncRNA microarray. Among these, the differentially expressed lncRNAs included 81 that were upregulated and 165 that were downregulated. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis showed that these differentially expressed lncRNAs were associated with post-translational modifications of proteins. Furthermore, we performed target gene prediction and coexpression analysis. The interrelationships between the lncRNAs and mRNAs with significant differential expression were identified. Additionally, three differentially expressed lncRNAs were selected for validation in 41 PA samples by qRT-PCR. The expression levels of FAM182B, LOC105371531, and LOC105375785 in the invasive PAs were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in the noninvasive PAs, and these results were consistent with the microarray data. ROC analysis suggested that FAM182B and LOC105375785 expression levels could be used to distinguish invasive PAs from noninvasive PAs.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated the lncRNAs expression patterns in invasive PAs. Thus, FAM182B and LOC105375785 may be involved in the invasiveness of PAs and serve as new candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis of invasive PAs.