Screening of Long Noncoding RNAs Induced by Radiation Using Microarray

DNA damage repair and G2/M arrest are the key factors regulating the survival of cancer cells exposed to radiation. Recent studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in a variety of biological processes, including DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, differentiation, and epigenetic regulation. However, the knowledge about the genome scale of lncRNAs and their potential biological functions in tumor cells exposed to radiation are still unclear. In this study, we used LncRNA + mRNA Human Gene Expression Microarray V4.0 to profile lncRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) from HeLa, MCF-7, and A549 cells after irradiation with 4 Gy of γ-radiation. We identified 230, 227, and 274 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 150, 214, and 274 differentially expressed mRNAs in HeLa, MCF-7, and A549 cells, respectively, among which there are 14 common differentially expressed lncRNAs and 22 common differentially expressed mRNAs in all of the 3 cell lines. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis indicated that these differentially expressed mRNAs were mainly associated with cell cycle. Further, we also predicted the target genes and functions of these differentially expressed lncRNAs. Our study on lncRNAs has greatly expanded the field of gene research in the relationship of radiation, cell cycle, and DNA damage.