Overexpressed long noncoding RNA CRNDE with distinct alternatively spliced isoforms in multiple cancers

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Alternative splicing of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) plays a role in cancer development.
• CRNDE is a lncRNA implicated in cancer pathogenesis, but its expression patterns and specific isoforms in malignancies are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the aberrant expression of CRNDE and its splice variants across various solid and hematopoietic malignancies.
• To determine if CRNDE overexpression can be targeted by anti-cancer drugs.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of CRNDE expression in 2938 patient samples from 15 tumor types and normal tissues.
• Profiling of 12 alternatively spliced CRNDE isoforms.
• Assessment of anti-cancer drug effects on CRNDE expression in cancer cell lines and primary samples.

Main Results:

• CRNDE is aberrantly expressed in the majority of solid and hematopoietic malignancies, with significant overexpression in 11 out of 15 tumor types.
• CRNDE expression is tissue- and cell-specific in normal samples.
• Different CRNDE isoforms are overexpressed in various cancer types, with CRNDE-g being the most highly expressed variant in multiple cancers.
• Anti-cancer drugs can repress CRNDE overexpression and differentially impact CRNDE isoform expression.

Conclusions:

• CRNDE and its splice variants exhibit cancer-associated features and are frequently overexpressed in malignancies.
• CRNDE isoforms, particularly CRNDE-g, represent potential targets for cancer diagnosis and therapy.