snoRNA and piRNA expression levels modified by tobacco use in women with lung adenocarcinoma

PLoS One. 2017 Aug 17;12(8):e0183410. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183410. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Lung cancer is one of the most frequent types of cancer worldwide. Most patients are diagnosed at advanced stage and thus have poor prognosis. Smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, however most smokers do not develop lung cancer while 20% of women with lung adenocarcinoma are non-smokers. Therefore, it is possible that these two groups present differences besides the smoking status, including differences in their gene expression signature. The altered expression patterns of non-coding RNAs in complex diseases make them potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. We analyzed data from differentially and constitutively expressed PIWI-interacting RNAs and small nucleolar RNAs from publicly available small RNA high-throughput sequencing data in search of an expression pattern of non-coding RNA that could differentiate these two groups. Here, we report two sets of differentially expressed small non-coding RNAs identified in normal and tumoral tissues of women with lung adenocarcinoma, that discriminate between smokers and non-smokers. Our findings may offer new insights on metabolic alterations caused by tobacco and may be used for early diagnosis of lung cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / genetics*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics*
  • RNA, Small Nucleolar / genetics*
  • Risk Factors
  • Smoking*

Substances

  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • RNA, Small Nucleolar

Grants and funding

NANJ and GW are supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES). FP acknowledges the support of Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). BSC is supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP 13/00506-1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.