Polymorphisms in lncRNA PTENP1 and the Risk of Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Population

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) phosphatase and tensin homolog pseudogene 1 (PTENP1) is significantly downregulated in gastric cancer (GC), playing critical roles in GC progression. However, the association between PTENP1 genetic variants and GC risk has not yet been reported. Using TaqMan technology, three lncRNA PTENP1 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) (rs7853346 C>G, rs865005 C>T, and rs10971638 G>A) were genotyped in 768 GC patients and 768 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. We found that subjects with rs7853346 G allele had a remarkably decreased risk of GC, compared with those carrying C allele (P = 0.011 in an additive model, P = 0.033 after Bonferroni's correction). The further stratified analyses showed that the link between variant genotypes of rs7853346 and decreased GC risk was more obvious in older subjects (≥60 years), nonsmokers, nondrinkers, and subjects without family history of GC. We also found that relative PTENP1 mRNA expression levels were higher in rs7853346 CG/GG genotype carriers than those with common genotype in both GC and normal tissues (P < 0.05). Besides, bioinformatics analyses revealed that rs7853346 may change the local folding structure and alter the target microRNAs (miRNAs) of PTENP1. In conclusion, our results suggested that lncRNA PTENP1 polymorphism rs7853346 may predict GC susceptibility.