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Distinct gene expression patterns of SOX2 and SOX2OT variants in different types of brain tumours

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Abstract

Numerous investigations have been recently published on the dysregulated expression of long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in various cancer types, emphasizing that abnormal lncRNA expression is a major contributor to tumourigenesis. A broad spectrum of lncRNAs is expressed in the central nervous system, where these RNAs seem to play key roles in brain development and function. In addition to expressing SOX2, a master regulator of pluripotency that lies within its third intron, lncRNA SOX2OT has a proposed role in regulating neural development. Based on our previous studies, alternative splicing of SOX2OT generates two alternatively spliced variants (SOX2OT-S1 and SOX2OT-S2). The present study investigated the expression patterns of SOX2OT variants and SOX2 in three principal types of brain tumours (gliomas, meningiomas and pituitary adenomas) and in four brain tumour cell lines (U87-MG, 1321N1, A172 and DAOY). Total RNA was extracted from 34 human brain tumour specimens, and the expression profile of target genes was measured using a real-time reverse transcription PCR approach. Our data revealed distinct expression patterns for SOX2OT variants and SOX2 in the brain tumour samples, indicating their potential involvement in brain tumourigenesis. Moreover, our results highlighted the potential usefulness of SOX2OT-S1, SOX2OT-S2, and SOX2 in molecular diagnosis and brain tumour classification.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Mrs Nabian and Ms Esmaeili at the Brain and Spinal Injuries Research Center (Imam Khomeini Medical Center, Tehran) for their assistance in providing frozen clinical samples Funding was provided by Tarbiat Modares University. We are also grateful to Mr Saied Rahmani for his assistance in bioinformatics analysis and Ms Alipour for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 1411713116, Iran

    Youssef Fouani, Alireza Shahryari & Seyed Javad Mowla

  2. Cardiogenetic Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1995614331, Iran

    Akram Gholipour & Mahshid Malakootian

  3. School of Medicine, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam, 76617-71967, Iran

    Maziar Oveisee

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1416634793, Iran

    Hooshang Saberi

  5. Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries Repair Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1416634793, Iran

    Hooshang Saberi

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  1. Youssef Fouani
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  2. Akram Gholipour
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  4. Alireza Shahryari
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  7. Mahshid Malakootian
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Contributions

Study conception or design: YF, SJM, and MM; bioinformatics analysis: AGH; data analysis and draft manuscript preparation: YF, MO, ASH, and HS; critical revision of the paper: MO, SJM, and MM; supervision of the research: SJM and MM; final approval of the version: YF, MO, AGH, ASH, HS, SJM, and MM.

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Correspondence to Mahshid Malakootian.

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Corresponding editor: Murali Dharan Bashyam

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Fouani, Y., Gholipour, A., Oveisee, M. et al. Distinct gene expression patterns of SOX2 and SOX2OT variants in different types of brain tumours. J Genet 102, 25 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-023-01423-z

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