Open Access

ARTICLE

Identification of lncRNAs associated with the progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia using a competing endogenous RNAs network

SHAHRAM NEKOEIAN¹, TAHEREH ROSTAMI², AMIR NOROUZY³, SAFIN HUSSEIN^1,4, GHOLAMREZA TAVOOSIDANA¹, BAHRAM CHAHARDOULI², SHAHRBANO ROSTAMI^2,*, YAZDAN ASGARI⁵, ZAHRA AZIZI^1,*

1 Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Research Institute for Oncology, Hematology and Cell Therapy, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Energy & Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
4 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, University of Raparin, Rania, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
5 Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

* Corresponding Authors: Zahra Azizi, ; Shahrbano Rostami,

Oncology Research 2022, 30(6), 259-268. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2022.027904

Received 20 November 2022; Accepted 01 February 2023; Issue published 09 February 2023

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignancy of bone marrow lymphoid precursors. Despite effective treatments, the causes of its progression or recurrence are still unknown. Finding prognostic biomarkers is needed for early diagnosis and more effective treatment. This study was performed to identify long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in ALL progression by constructing a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. These lncRNAs may serve as potential new biomarkers in the development of ALL. The GSE67684 dataset identified changes in lncRNAs and mRNAs involved in ALL progression. Data from this study were re-analyzed, and probes related to lncRNAs were retrieved. Targetscan, miRTarBase, and miRcode databases were used to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) related to the discovered genes and lncRNAs. The ceRNA network was constructed, and the candidate lncRNAs were selected. Finally, the results were validated with reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). The ceRNA network outcomes demonstrated that the top lncRNAs associated with altered mRNAs in ALL are IRF1-AS1, MCM3AP-AS1, TRAF3IP2-AS1, HOTAIRM1, CRNDE, and TUG1. Investigations of the subnets linked to MCM3AP-AS1, TRAF3IP2-AS1, and IRF1-AS1 indicated that these lncRNAs were considerably related to pathways associated with inflammation, metastasis, and proliferation. Higher expression levels of IRF1-AS1, MCM3AP-AS1, TRAF3IP2-AS1, CRNDE, and TUG1 were found in ALL samples compared to controls. The expression of MCM3APAS1, TRAF3IP2-AS1, and IRF1-AS1 is significantly elevated during the progression of ALL, playing an oncogenic role. Due to their role in the main cancer pathways, lncRNAs could be suitable therapeutic and diagnostic targets in ALL.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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