Functional analysis of long-chain non-coding RNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: This study aimed to investigate the expression profile of long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to explore the biological functions of differentially expressed lncRNA in the cancer tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues, and the differentially expressed lncRNAs related to OSCC were screened. Methods: High-throughput lncRNA microarray assay was used to detect the expression of lncRNA and mRNA in the OSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues from five patients. The expression profiles of the lncRNA and mRNA in the cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed and the differentially expressed lncRNA and mRNAs were identified. The differentially expressed mRNA was analyzed with GO, Pathway and disease annotation enrichment database, and the mRNAs related to the tumor and the lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network were employed to screen the key lncRNA related to the occurrence and development of OSCC. Results: A total of 3,022 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 4,364 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in the OSCC tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues. A further analysis revealed 130 major differentially expressed mRNAs related to the tumor. When the correlation was >0.99 or <-0.99 and P value was <0.05, there were 73 differentially expressed mRNA in case of mRNA/lncRNA co-expression. The intersection of two gene symbols resulted in the nine lncRNAs closely related to the OSCC, in which five showed up-regulation and six had down-regulation. Based on the co-expression of the lncRNAs and mRNAs (correlation 40.99 or correlation -0.99 and P value <0.05), there were differentially expressed mRNAs with co-expression with lncRNA. Conclusions: The differentially expressed lncRNAs identified in this study are related to the occurrence and development of OSCC. This may provide new therapeutic targets and biomarkers for OSCC and is also helpful for further investigation of pathogenesis of OSCC.