Affiliations: [a] National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, Iran | [b] Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran | [c] Pathology Department, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran | [d] Urogenital Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Jamshid Raheb, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: LINK-A (long intergenic non-coding RNA for kinase activation) is a newly identified long non-coding RNA with oncogenic function, which leads to the hyperactivation of AKT and HIF1α. thereby, fosters cell proliferation, mobility and metastasis. VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), a well-known cytokine has an important role in angiogenesis. In this study, we quantified RNA expression of LINK-A and VEGF on 45 tumor specimens obtained from Iranian patients diagnosed with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC). Our goal was to evaluate expression of LINK-A lncRNA and VEGF mRNA in ovarian cancer tissues and find the probable correlation of LINK-A with VEGF as a major transcription target for HIF1α. LINK-A and VEGF were remarkably overexpressed in EOC tissues compared to normal tissues (P value: 0.004, 0.0001, respectively), but we did not find correlation between LINK-A and VEGF RNA expressions in this study. LINK-A was significantly overexpressed in higher stages of cancer and tumor grades. VEGF was only significantly elevated in higher stages. This study confirms importance of novel lncRNA of LINK-A in Iranian EOC patients.
Keywords: lncRNA, LINK-A, VEGF, Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)
