Long Non-Coding RNA Expression in Laser Micro-Dissected Luminal A and Triple Negative Breast Cancer Tissue Samples-A Pilot Study

Background and Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) remains one of the major causes of cancer death in women worldwide. The difficulties in assessing the deep molecular mechanisms involved in this pathology arise from its high complexity and diverse tissue subtypes. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were shown to have great tissue specificity, being differentially expressed within the BC tissue subtypes. Materials and Methods: Herein, we performed lncRNA profiling by PCR array in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and luminal A tissue samples from 18 BC patients (nine TNBC and nine luminal A), followed by individual validation in BC tissue and cell lines. Tissue samples were previously archived in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, and the areas of interest were dissected using laser capture microdissection (LCM) technology. Results: Two lncRNAs (OTX2-AS1 and SOX2OT) were differentially expressed in the profiling analysis (fold change of 205.22 and 0.02, respectively, p < 0.05 in both cases); however, they did not reach statistical significance in the individual validation measurement (p > 0.05) when analyzed with specific individual assays. In addition, GAS5 and NEAT1 lncRNAs were individually assessed as they were previously described in the literature as being associated with BC. GAS5 was significantly downregulated in both TNBC tissues and cell lines compared to luminal A samples, while NEAT1 was significantly downregulated only in TNBC cells vs. luminal A. Conclusions: Therefore, we identified GAS5 lncRNA as having a differential expression in TNBC tissues and cells compared to luminal A, with possible implications in the molecular mechanisms of the TNBC subtype. This proof of principle study also suggests that LCM could be a useful technique for limiting the sample heterogeneity for lncRNA gene expression analysis in BC FFPE tissues. Future studies of larger cohort sizes are needed in order to assess the biomarker potential of lncRNA GAS5 in BC.

Automated summary

In this study, lncRNA profiling was conducted on TNBC and luminal A tissue samples from 18 BC patients. Although two lncRNAs showed differential expression in the profiling analysis, they did not reach statistical significance in individual validation. GAS5 lncRNA was identified as having differential expression in TNBC tissues and cells compared to luminal A, suggesting possible implications in the molecular mechanisms of the TNBC subtype. Further studies with larger cohort sizes are needed to assess the biomarker potential of GAS5 lncRNA in BC.