Smoking status regulates a novel panel of PIWI-interacting RNAs in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Smoking remains a primary etiological factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Given that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), have emerged as mediators of initiation and progression in head and neck malignancies, we undertook a global study of piRNA expression patterns in smoking-associated HNSCC.

Materials and methods

Using RNA-sequencing data from 256 current smoker and lifelong nonsmoker samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we analyzed the differential expression patterns of 27,127 piRNAs across patient cohorts stratified by tobacco use, with HPV16 status and tumor status taken into account. We correlated their expression to clinical characteristics and to smoking-induced alterations of PIWI proteins, the fun

SUBMITTER: Krishnan AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5291169 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature