Very long intergenic non-coding RNA transcripts and expression profiles are associated to specific childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtypes

PLoS One. 2018 Nov 15;13(11):e0207250. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207250. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Very long intergenic non-coding RNAs (vlincRNAs) are a novel class of long transcripts (~50 kb to 1 Mb) with cell type- or cancer-specific expression. We report the discovery and characterization of 256 vlincRNAs from a cohort of 64 primary childhood pre-B and pre-T acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) samples, of which 61% are novel and specifically expressed in cALL. Validation was performed in 35 pre-B and pre-T cALL primary samples. We show that their expression is cALL immunophenotype and molecular subtype-specific and correlated with epigenetic modifications on their promoters, much like protein-coding genes. While the biological functions of these vlincRNAs are still unknown, our results suggest they could play a role in cALL etiology or progression.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • CpG Islands
  • DNA Methylation
  • Epigenesis, Genetic
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics
  • Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / metabolism*
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics
  • Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / metabolism*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism*
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • RNA, Long Noncoding