Long non-coding RNA GAS5 and ZFAS1 are prognostic markers involved in translation targeted by miR-940 in prostate cancer

• Published in: Oncotarget 2018-01, Vol.9 (1), p.1048-1062
• Main Authors: Chen, Xin, Yang, Chao, Xie, Shengli, Cheung, Edwin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Research Paper
• ISSN: 1949-2553; 1949-2553
• DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.23254

Identification of prognostic biomarkers helps facilitate the prediction of patient outcomes as well as guide treatments. Accumulating evidence now suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in tumor progression with diagnostic and prognostic values. However, little is known about the biological functions of lncRNAs and how they contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer. Herein, we performed weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) on 380 RNA-seq samples from prostate cancer patients to create networks comprising of microRNAs, lncRNAs, and protein-coding genes. Our analysis revealed expression modules that associated with pathological parameters. More importantly, we identified a gene module that is involved in protein translation and is associated with patient survival. In this gene module, we explored the regulation axis involving , and . We show that , and are up-regulated in tumors relative to normal prostate tissues, and high expression of either lncRNA is an indicator of poor patient outcome. Finally, we constructed a co-expression network involving , , and as well as the targets of . Our results show that and are targeted by via and . Taken together, co-expression analysis of gene expression profiling from RNA-seq can accelerate the identification and functional characterization of novel prognostic markers in prostate cancer.