Construction of lncRNA regulatory networks reveal the key lncRNAs associated with Pituitary adenomas progression

Pituitary adenomas (PA) is one of the most frequent types of intracranial neoplasms. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) played important roles in the progression of human cancers, including PA. However, the roles of lncRNAs in PA remained to be further investigated. We performed analysis of GSE26966 dataset to identify differently expressed lncRNAs in PA. Co-expression network, lncRNA-RNA binding proteins network, and competing endogenous RNA networks were constructed. Moreover, we performed RT-qPCR assay to validate four key lncRNAs expression in PA. This study identified differently expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs by using GSE26966 database. Furthermore, we constructed lncRNA-mRNA co-expression, lncRNA-RBP interaction and ceRNA networks. Bioinformatics analysis showed these lncRNAs were involved in regulating mechanical stimulus, gene expression, JAK-STAT cascade, cell cycle arrest, FoxO signaling, HIF-1 signaling, Insulin signaling, Oxytocin signaling, and MAPK signaling. We also showed KCNQ1OT1, SNHG7, MEG3, and SNHG5 were down-regulated in PA. Our findings could provide a novel insight to understand the mechanisms of lncRNAs underlying PA pathogenesis and identify new biomarkers for PA.