Integrative analysis of LncRNA-mRNA signature reveals a functional LincRNA in triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract Purpose Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer. It is still unclear that the mechanisms by which long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulates tumorigenesis of TNBC. In this study, we explored the function and regulation of lncRNA in TNBC. Methods The differentially expressed and overlapped lncRNAs were obtained from two microarray datasets of breast cancer. The cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data was applied to validate the roles of top differentially expressed lncRNAs. The potential relationship among lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs and the effects of them on the TNBC tumorigenesis were further explored through multiple bioinformatic methods. Results Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1351 (LINC01351) was first discovered to play an oncogenic role in TNBC. The highly expressed LINC01351 was significantly related to aggressive subtypes, advanced stages and metastasis of breast cancer. The overexpressed LINC01351 was associated with adverse prognosis of patients with TNBC. LINC01351 was found to negatively regulate ELK4 which was involved in the transcriptional regulation in cancer. The high expression of ELK4 showed favorable prognosis of patients with basal-like 1 subtype and luminal androgen receptor subtype of TNBC. Conclusion The dysregulation of LINC01351 played an important role in triple-negative breast cancer. LINC01351 could be a poor prognostic marker and a potential target for patients with TNBC.