Seminar：Integrative Genetic and Epigenetic Analyses Identify Functional Long Noncoding RNAs in Prostate Cancer
Speaker：Housheng Hansen He, Ph.D.
Scientist
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre;
Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Biophysics
University of Toronto
Host：Dr.ZHANG Zhihua
Time：9:30-11:30 Aug 10
Location: First-floor, Conference Room, BIG, CAS
Abstract:
Genome-Wide Association (GWA) and whole-genome re-sequencing studies have identified thousands of germline risk variants and somatic mutations in cancer. Efforts to interpret these data have mainly been focused on protein coding genes, despite the fact that majority of these genetic alterations locate outside of coding gene exons. A recent curation of over seven thousand RNA-Seq data characterized more than 58,000 expressed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human genome, twice as large as the number of protein coding genes. Through integrative analysis of the lncRNA transcriptome with epigenetic and genetic variation data, we identified 60 candidate lncRNAs associated with genetic variations. Experimental validation showed that they could be regulated by risk SNPs and somatic mutations through both cis- and trans- actions. The function of two of these lncRNAs in prostate cancer development and progression has been characterized. Our data suggests that genetic variations in noncoding regions function largely through regulating lncRNA expression and these lncRNAs may serve as new biomarkers for personalized medicine.
