Aim: The contribution of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to gastric cancer associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection remains largely unknown. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the expression of a lncRNA NR_026827 in gastric epithelial cells infected with H. pylori, and demonstrate its expression characteristic in gastric cancer.
Materials and methods: Gastric epithelial cell line cells, GES-1, were cultured and infected with H. pylori. A microarray was used to analyze the lncRNA profile of gastric epithelial cells. Eighty fresh gastric cancer tissues and the paired adjacent non-cancerous tissue samples were randomly selected from patients. The expression of the lncRNA NR_026827 was investigated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
Results: The expression of several lncRNAs was significantly altered in GES-1 cells following infection with H. pylori. Of these lncRNAs, NR_026827 was dramatically down-regulated in GES-1 cells infected with H. pylori. In addition, the expression of NR_026827 was decreased in gastric cancer tissues in comparison to the corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Moreover, the expression of NR_026827 did not change significantly in different gastric cancer stages.
Conclusion: The lncRNA, NR_026827, is down-regulated in all stages of gastric cancer associated with H. pylori infection and could represent a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of gastric cancer.
Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Long non-coding RNA; NR_026827; gastric cancer.