Differential expression of lncRNAs and predicted target genes in normal mouse melanocytes and B16 cells

Melanoma is a highly invasive and metastatic malignant skin tumor with poor prognosis. Although several widely studied pure melanoma cell lines are available, the precise mechanism underlying transformation of melanocyte to melanoma remains unclear. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a vast category of non-coding RNA molecules, and increasing evidence suggests that lncRNAs are crucial for various biological processes, including those in the skin. Herein, lncRNA sequencing was performed on an Illumina HiSeq platform to identify lncRNAs expressed differently in murine B16 melanoma cells compared to normal mouse melanocytes. Using four computational approaches, 2319 lncRNAs were expressed in both normal melanocytes and B16 cells, with 373 being differentially expressed at a significant level. Of these, 136 lncRNAs were upregulated and 237 were downregulated. KEGG analyses revealed that 467 genes were target genes in the Wnt signalling pathway, TGF-beta signalling pathway, MAPK signalling pathway, NF-kappa B signalling pathway, melanoma and several other cancer-related regulatory pathways. From among the differentially expressed lncRNAs, lnc-13317.1 was found to play a role in the cell cycle in melanoma by targeting BRCA1. Thus, lnc-13317.1 might have therapeutic potential in melanoma treatment. The lncRNA profile described here highlights the importance of elucidating the exact function of these lncRNAs in the transformation of melanoma. Lnc-13317.1 might have therapeutic potential in melanoma treatment by targeting BRCA1.