Screening for the Key lncRNA Targets Associated With Metastasis of Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma

A large number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found to be implicated in varieties of tumors. However, the contributions of lncRNAs to tumorigenesis in renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC) remain largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide analysis of lncRNA expression in RCCC and matched nontumor (NT) tissues to identify new targets for further study of renal carcinoma. The genome-wide analysis of lncRNA expression in 3 RCCC and matched NT tissues were conducted using 4 × 180K Agilent lncRNA Chips and 6 lncRNAs were selected and validated by qRT-PCR in 90 RCCC patients. The differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were recognized through P value and fold-change (FC) filtering. Potential targets associated with RCCC were identified by gene ontology and pathway analyses. Construction of the co-expression network was accomplished using Cytoscape. A total of 3862 lncRNAs and 2935 mRNAs were deregulated in RCCC tissues, compared with paired NT tissues. PCR results showed the expressions of these 6 lncRNAs were consistent with the chips. Moreover, the co-expression network analysis portended 641 nodes and 571 connections between 109 lncRNAs and 532 coding genes. Lastly, NONHSAT123350 could be involved in the pathogenesis of RCCC and its expression level was closely related to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients without distant metastasis. Our results indicated that these abnormal lncRNAs could respond to renal carcinoma progression and NONHSAT123350 may act as a potential target for future treatment of RCCC.