Linc-ROR and its spliced variants ۲ and ۴ are significantly up-regulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective(s): Similar characteristics of molecular pathways between cellular reprogramming events and tumorigenesis have been accentuated in recent years. Reprogramming-related transcription factors, also known as Yamanaka factors (OCT۴, SOX۲, KLF۴, and c-MYC), are also well-known oncogenes promoting cancer initiation, progression, and cellular transformation into cancer stem cells. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a major class of RNA molecules with emerging roles in stem cell pluripotency, cellular reprogramming, cellular transformation, and tumorigenesis. The long intergenic non-coding RNA ROR (lincRNA-ROR, linc-ROR) acts as a regulator of cellular reprograming through sponging miR-۱۴۵ that normally negatively regulates the expression of the stemness factors NANOG, OCT۴, and SOX۲. Materials and Methods: Here, we employed a real-time PCR approach to determine the expression patterns of linc-ROR and its two novel spliced variants (variants ۲ and ۴) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Results: The quantitative real-time RT-PCR results revealed a significant up-regulation of linc-ROR (P=۰.۰۰۹۸) and its variants ۲ (P=۰.۰۲۵۰) and ۴ (P=۰.۰۰۰۲) in tumor samples of ESCC, compared to their matched non-tumor tissues obtained from the margin of same tumors. Our data also demonstrated a significant up-regulation of variant ۴ in high-grade tumor samples, in comparison to the low-grade ones (P=۰.۰۴). Moreover, the ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the variant ۴ of ROR has a potential to discriminate between tumor and non-tumor samples (AUC=۰.۶۶, P<۰.۰۵). Conclusion: Our data suggest a significant up-regulation of linc-ROR and its variants ۲ and ۴ in ESCC tissue samples.

کلیدواژه ها:

Esophageal squamous - cell carcinoma ، Linc-ROR ، Non-coding RNA ، Spliced variants