A Novel LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Triple Network Identifies LncRNA RP11-363E7.4 as An Important Regulator of miRNA and Gene Expression in Gastric Cancer

• Main Authors: Pengcheng Wang, Jing Li, Wei Zhao, Chunyang Shang, Xian Jiang, Yuli Wang, Baoguo Zhou, Fusheng Bao, Haiquan Qiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cell Physiol Biochem Press GmbH & Co KG 2018-05-01
• Series: Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry
• Subjects: Gastric cancer; LncRNAs-miRNA-mRNA regulators; Triple network analyses; Function enrichment; Random walk
• Online Access: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/490168
• ISSN: 1015-8987; 1421-9778

Background/Aims: Recent evidence has shown that some long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in various biological processes. However, the regulatory mechanism of lncRNA in gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. Methods: We reannotated the GC gene expression profile into a lncRNA-mRNA biphasic profile and integrated the microRNA target data to construct a global GC triple network. A further clustering and random walk with restart analyses was performed on the triple network from the level of topology analyses. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine expression of lncRNA RP11-363E7.4. Kaplan-Meier analyses was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of lncRNA RP11-363E7.4. Results: We constructed a gastric cancer lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network (GCLMN) including six lncRNAs, 332 mRNAs, and 3,707 edges. For the shared lncRNA RP11-363E7.4, the interacting gene and microRNA functional enrichment studies implied that lncRNA RP11-363E7.4 might function as a new regulator in GC. The expression of lncRNA RP11-363E7.4 was downregulated compared with that of paracarcinoma tissues in five GC samples. High expression of lncRNA RP11-363E7.4 was found to be correlated to better overall survival (OS) for GC patients. Conclusions: This study focused on GC lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks, and found that lncRNA RP11-363E7.4 was a new GC risk lncRNA, which might provide novel insight into a better understanding of the pathogenesis of GC.