title: Linc-ROR and its spliced variants 2 and 4 are significantly up-regulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Similar characteristics of molecular pathways between cellular reprogramming events and tumorigenesis have been accentuated in recent years. Reprogramming-related transcription factors, also known as Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC), are also well-known oncogenes promoting cancer initiation, progression, and cellular transformation into cancer stem cells. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a major class of RNA molecules with emerging roles in stem cell pluripotency, cellular reprogramming, cellular transformation, and tumorigenesis. The long intergenic non-coding RNA ROR (lincRNA-ROR, linc-ROR) acts as a regulator of cellular reprograming through sponging miR-145 that normally negatively regulates the expression of the stemness factors NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, we employed a real-time PCR approach to determine the expression patterns oflinc-RORand its two novel spliced variants (variants 2 and 4) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The quantitative real-time RT-PCR results revealed a significant up-regulation oflinc-ROR(P=0.0098) and its variants 2 (P=0.0250) and 4 (P=0.0002) in tumor samples of ESCC, compared to their matched non-tumor tissues obtained from the margin of same tumors. Our data also demonstrated a significant up-regulation of variant 4 in high-grade tumor samples, in comparison to the low-grade ones (P=0.04). Moreover, the ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the variant 4 of ROR has a potential to discriminate between tumor and non-tumor samples (AUC=0.66,P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest a significant up-regulation of linc-ROR and its variants 2 and 4 in ESCC tissue samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sahebi
authors.affiliation: Cardiogenetic Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malakootian
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Baharak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balalaee
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shahryari
authors.affiliation: Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khoshnia
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Genetics, Immunology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Abbaszadegan
authors.affiliation: Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolvahab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moradi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Javad Mowla
keywords: Esophageal squamous - cell carcinoma; Linc-ROR; Non-coding RNA; Spliced variants