• Dysregulation of EZH2/CDKN2A/CDKN2B in a ceRNA network promote thyroid carcinoma
  • Ghazal Khodadoustan,1,* Mohammad Rezaei,2 Mansoureh Azadeh,3
    1. Zist Fanavari Novin Biotechnology Institute, Isfahan, Iran
    2. Zist Fanavari Novin Biotechnology Institute, Isfahan, Iran
    3. Zist Fanavari Novin Biotechnology Institute, Isfahan, Iran


  • Introduction: Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) represents the most common endocrine malignancy, among all endocrine carcinomas.The genetic alterations identified in THCA fail to distinguish tumors with different clinical behaviors, such as extra-thyroidal extension and lymph node metastasis[1]. In recent decades, miRNAs and lncRNAs have been considered as potent biomarkers in cancer. Therefore, in this bioinformatics approach, the goal was to discover a biological network of genes, miRNAs and lncRNAs which have a remarkable impact on progression of THCA
  • Methods: Initially, (GSE104005) raw data was achieved from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO) and analyzed by GEO2R in order to find genes with significant increase in expression regulation. Further, validation of expression analysis performed by GEPIA2[2] and ENCORI[3] databases to select differentially expressed genes (DEGs). In this investigation DEGs with adjusted p-value<0.05 and |logFC| >1.2 were considered significant. EZH2, CDKN2A, and CDKN2B were selected. The pg. 2 possible correlation between the selected genes and thyroid carcinoma is reinforced by GEPIA2. Furthermore, biological pathway involvement are processed Through Reactome[4] and NRICHR[5] databases. Moreover, STRING[6] and Genecards[7] are utilized to find significant protein-protein interactions and the exact interaction among these genes .In addition, selected genes were searched in Mirwalk[8] to find significant miRNA-mRNA interactions and hsa-miR-4289 is identified a significant mutual miRNA among these three genes . In addition, with the purpose of finding lncRNAs related to this network, the miRNA was searched in LncBase V.3[9] and MALAT1 and XIST were selected as suitable lncRNAs that construct a predictive ceRNA network among them
  • Results: GEO data analysis by GEO2R indicated, that EZH2 , CDKN2A and CDKN2B as significantly up-regulated genes in the THCA samples, compared to control (DEGs with adjusted p-value < 0.05 and |logFC| >1.2 were considered significant).The product of EZH2 mRNA is Histone-lysine N-methyltransferase EZH2, the Catalytic subunit of the PRC2/EED-EZH2 complex (PRC2), which methylates 'Lys-9' (H3K9me) and 'Lys- 27' (H3K27me) of histone H3, leading to transcriptional repression of the affected target gene. The expression of PRC2 is positively regulated in growing cells and also plays a crucial role in oxidative stress, caused by oncogenic signaling, through trimethylation of CDKN2A and CDKN2B loci. Analysis of possible miRNA-mRNA interactions indicated hsa-miR-4289 is a significant interactor to EZH2 mRNA and also CDKN2B and CDKN2A mRNAs.Co-expression analysis by ENCORI revealed a conciderable coexpression among hsa-miR-4289 and all those selected mRNAs. This miRNA was then processed in LncBase v.3 as a result MALAT1 and XIST have strong interactions with this miRNA.
  • Conclusion: In conclusion, overexpression of EZH2 along with CDKN2A and CDKN2B in THCA forms a possible ceRNA network among hsa-miR-4289, MALAT1, and XIST.This investigation could be suggested novel CeRNA interactions among lncRNA, mRNA, and miRNA for the candidate diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers associated with THCA by microarray analysis.
  • Keywords: Thyroid carcinoma; EZH2; CDKN2A; CDKN2B; CeRNA