Co-upregulation of PVT1 and MYC in Breast Tumor Tissues of Iranian Patients: Enhanced Evidence for lncRNA and Neighboring Oncogene Crosstalk
Subject Areas : biotechnology
Yousof Reza Rezaei-Malek
1
,
Mohammad Shafiee
2
,
Seysd Reza Tabari Pour
3
*
1 - Master's Degree in Cellar and Molecular Biology, Babol Branch, Islamic Azad University, Babol, Iran
2 - Department of Genetics, School of Advanced Medical Sciences, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
3 - Department of biology . Islamic Azad university . Babol branch . .
Keywords: breast cancer, lncRNA, MYC, PVT1,
Abstract :
Breast cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm among women worldwide, and its rising incidence, particularly at younger ages, poses a major public health challenge. Despite significant advances, many cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms underlying breast tumorigenesis and progression remain unclear. In recent years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of gene expression and cellular processes, especially in cancer. The 8q24 region of human chromosome 8 contains two adjacent genes: MYC, a well-established oncogene, and PVT1, a lncRNA with diverse regulatory functions. While the oncogenic role of MYC in breast cancer pathogenesis is well characterized, the functional relationship between MYC and PVT1 and their combined effects on tumorigenic pathways remain to be fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the co-expression of MYC and PVT1 in paired tumor and adjacent non-tumor breast tissues from Iranian women. Expression levels of MYC and PVT1 were assessed in 36 paired samples using RT-qPCR following RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis. The results demonstrated that MYC and PVT1 expression was significantly increased by 2.70-fold (p 0.001) and 1.24-fold (p 0.048), respectively, in tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between the expression levels of PVT1 and MYC (r=0.459; p<0.01). The findings of this study, for the first time, demonstrate the upregulation of PVT1 and MYC genes in breast tumor tissues of Iranian women. These results further highlight the roles of PVT1 and MYC in the pathogenesis and possibly drug resistance of this disease, and may be beneficial for future research aimed at developing novel biomarkers and targeted therapies based on long non-coding RNAs.
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