Whole transcriptome sequencing identifies a competitive endogenous RNA network that regulates the immunity of bladder cancer

Sanhe Liu; Yiqi Wang; Liqun Duan; Diansheng Cui; Kangli Deng; Zhiqiang Dong; Shaozhong Wei

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29344

Whole transcriptome sequencing identifies a competitive endogenous RNA network that regulates the immunity of bladder cancer

Heliyon. 2024 Apr 16;10(8):e29344. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29344. eCollection 2024 Apr 30.

Authors

Sanhe Liu^{1

2

3}, Yiqi Wang^{1

4}, Liqun Duan^{5

1}, Diansheng Cui², Kangli Deng², Zhiqiang Dong^{1

4}, Shaozhong Wei^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
² Department of Urology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430079, China.
³ Division of Infection and Immunity, Systems Immunity Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, United Kingdom.
⁴ Center for Neurological Disease Research, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, 442000, China.
⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430079, China.

Abstract

Several types of non-coding RNAs such as circRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs have been identified to regulate mRNAs through the mechanism known as the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. To explore the role of the ceRNA regulatory network in the immune microenvironment of bladder cancer, whole-transcriptome sequencing of bladder tumor and its peritumoral tissues from 38 bladder cancer patients, with a total of 63 samples, was performed to screen differentially expressed circ-, lnc-, mi-, and mRNAs to construct a circ/lnc-mi-mRNA regulatory network with pruning algorithms. We excavated a key immune-related gene BDNF to build the final ceRNA network as hsa-miR-107 sponged by hsa-circ-000211, AC108488.1, and LINC00163. Finally, a meta-analysis of 7 public datasets demonstrated that low expression of BDNF and high expression of hsa-miR-107 were associated with longer survival. Our study identified a ceRNA regulatory network as a potentially new prognostic marker and molecular therapeutic target of bladder cancer.

Keywords: BDNF; Bladder cancer; Competitive endogenous RNA; Immune microenvironment; Whole transcriptome sequencing.