Open AccessIn silico analyses identify lncRNAs: WDFY3-AS2, BDNF-AS and AFAP1-AS1 as potential prognostic factors for patients with triple-negative breast tumors
Author(s) -
Daniel Rodrigues de Bastos,
María Aparecida Nagai
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0232284
Subject(s) - triple negative breast cancer , in silico , breast cancer , biology , cancer research , oncology , microarray , bioinformatics , microarray analysis techniques , long non coding rna , medicine , cancer , downregulation and upregulation , gene expression , gene , genetics
Background Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are characterized as having 200 nucleotides or more and not coding any protein, and several been identified as differentially expressed in several human malignancies, including breast cancer. Methods Here, we evaluated lncRNAs differentially expressed in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) from a cDNA microarray data set obtained in a previous study from our group. Using in silico analyses in combination with a review of the current literature, we identify three lncRNAs as potential prognostic factors for TNBC patients. Results We found that the expression of WDFY3-AS2, BDNF-AS, and AFAP1-AS1 was associated with poor survival in patients with TNBCs. WDFY3-AS2 and BDNF-AS are lncRNAs known to play an important role in tumor suppression of different types of cancer, while AFAP1-AS1 exerts oncogenic activity. Conclusion Our findings provided evidence that WDFY3-AS2, BDNF-AS, and AFAP1-AS1 may be potential prognostic factors in TNBC development.