In silico prediction of housekeeping long intergenic non-coding RNAs reveals HKlincR1 as an essential player in lung cancer cell survival

Memon, D., Bi, J. and Miller, C. J. (2019) In silico prediction of housekeeping long intergenic non-coding RNAs reveals HKlincR1 as an essential player in lung cancer cell survival. Scientific Reports, 9, 7372. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-43758-7) (PMID:31089191) (PMCID:PMC6517443)

Abstract

Prioritising long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) for functional characterisation is a significant challenge. Here we applied computational approaches to discover lincRNAs expected to play a critical housekeeping (HK) role within the cell. Using the Illumina Human BodyMap RNA sequencing dataset as a starting point, we first identified lincRNAs ubiquitously expressed across a panel of human tissues. This list was then further refined by reference to conservation score, secondary structure and promoter DNA methylation status. Finally, we used tumour expression and copy number data to identify lincRNAs rarely downregulated or deleted in multiple tumour types. The resulting list of candidate essential lincRNAs was then subjected to co-expression analyses using independent data from ENCODE and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). This identified a substantial subset with a predicted role in DNA replication and cell cycle regulation. One of these, HKlincR1, was selected for further characterisation. Depletion of HKlincR1 affected cell growth in multiple lung cancer cell lines, and led to disruption of genes involved in cell growth and viability. In addition, HKlincR1 expression was correlated with overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Our in silico studies therefore reveal a set of housekeeping noncoding RNAs of interest both in terms of their role in normal homeostasis, and their relevance in tumour growth and maintenance.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Miller, Professor Crispin

Creator Roles

Miller, C.: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – original draft

• Authors: Memon, D., Bi, J., and Miller, C. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Scientific Reports
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN (Online): 2045-2322
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2019
• First Published: First published in Scientific Reports 9:7372
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence