Background: Studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the development and progression of many types of cancer. However, the mechanisms by which lncRNAs influence development and progression of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) are unclear.
Method: We investigated differences in lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles between 3 pairs of HSCC tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues by microarray analysis.
Results: In HSCC tissues, 1299 lncRNAs were significantly upregulated (n=669) or downregulated (n=630) compared to levels in adjacent nontumor tissues. Moreover, 1432 mRNAs were significantly upregulated (n=684) or downregulated (n=748) in HSCC tissues. We randomly selected 2 differentially expressed lncRNAs (AB209630, AB019562) and 2 differentially expressed mRNAs (SPP1, TJP2) for confirmation of microarray results using qRT-PCR. The qRT-PCR results matched well with the microarray data. The differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were distributed on each of the chromosomes, including the X and Y chromosomes. Pathway analysis indicated that the biological functions of differentially expressed mRNAs were related to 48 cellular pathways that may be associated with HSCC development. GO analysis revealed that 593 mRNAs involved in biological processes, 50 mRNAs involved in cellular components, and 46 mRNAs involved in molecular functions were upregulated in the carcinomas; 280 mRNAs involved in biological processes, 58 mRNAs involved in cellular components, and 71 mRNAs involved in molecular functions were downregulated in the carcinomas. In addition, 8 enhancer-like lncRNAs and 21 intergenic lncRNAs with their adjacent mRNA pairs were identified as coregulated transcripts.
Conclusion: These findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying HSCC tumorigenesis and will facilitate identification of new therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for this disease.
Keywords: Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; expression profile; lncRNA; mRNA; microarray.