Expression analysis of long non-coding ATB and its putative target in breast cancer

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Nikpayam, Elahe^a | Soudyab, Mohammad^a | Tasharrofi, Behnoosh^a | Sarrafzadeh, Shaghayegh^a | Iranpour, Mostafa^a | Geranpayeh, Lobat^b | Mirfakhraie, Reza^a | Gharesouran, Jalal^a | Ghafouri-Fard, Soudeh^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Medical Genetics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [b] Department of Surgery, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: S. Ghafouri-Fard. E-mail: s.ghafourifard@sbmu.ac.ir

Abstract: BACKGROUND:A long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) activated by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β (lncRNA-ATB) has been recently shown to promote the invasion-metastasis cascade in various types of cancers via upregulation of some targets including ZEB1. OBJECTIVES:The aim of the present study was to elucidate the expression of lncRNA-ATB and ZEB in breast cancer patients. METHODS:The expression of these genes was evaluated by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in tumor samples form 50 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients as well as their corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCTs). Patients were divided into subsequent groups according to the median lncRNA-ATB expression. RESULTS:LncRNA-ATB has been shown to be downregulated in about two third of tumor samples compared with their ANCTs.A significant association has been found between ZEB1 expression and Ki-67 status. In addition, we demonstrated a correlation between expression of lncRNA-ATB and ZEB1 in tumor samples and not in ANCTs. CONCLUSION:Collectively, out data show downregulation of lncRNA-ATB in a significant number of breast tumor tissues compared with ANCTs and imply that lncRNA-ATB might have distinct roles in the pathogenesis of different cancers or even different subtypes of a certain cancer which should be evaluated in future studies.

Keywords: breast cancer, lncRNA-ATB, ZEB1

DOI: 10.3233/BD-160264

Journal: Breast Disease, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 11-20, 2017