Analysis of long non-coding RNA expression profiles identifies novel lncRNA biomarkers in the tumorigenesis and malignant progression of gliomas

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs have been shown to be associated with cancer development and progression, demonstrating potential applications as novel diagnostic or prognostic molecular markers in clinical management and treatment. However, the functional significance of lncRNAs in the development and malignant progression of gliomas is still unclear and needed to be further explored. we first obtained genome-wide lncRNA expression profiles in a large cohort of patients with gliomas from the Gene Expression Omnibus database using microarray probes repurposing method and investigated the lncRNA expression patterns during the tumorigenesis and malignant progression of gliomas. By using differential expression analysis, we identified a large number of lncRNAs that were associated with the tumorigenesis and malignant progression of gliomas in the training dataset and showed their robustness in the testing dataset. Subsequently, we identified a novel four-lncRNA signature which was closely related to the prognosis of patients with GBM. The prognostic value of this signature was verified in the test set of 80 patients. Functional analysis suggested that the four lncRNAs associated with survival of patients with GBM may be involved in cancer-related biological processes and pathways and their deregulation may lead to GBM tumorigenesis and progression. These novel lncRNA biomarkers will improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms during the development and progression of glioma and provide novel diagnostic or prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for gliomas.