Dysregulation of selected lncRNAs and Hippo/EMT-associated genes in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
8 affiliations
- 13 Dept. of Surgery, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 2Department of Genomics, MEDFUTURE Institute for Biomedical Research, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 3Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 4Department of Pathology, Octavian Fodor Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 5Department of Surgery, Octavian Fodor Regional Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 6Department of Surgery-Practical Abilities, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 7Doctoral School, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- 8Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Bucharest, Romania.
Abstract
Liver cancer remains the sixth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with hepatocellular carcinoma accounting for most cases. Long non-coding RNAs regulate hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and invasion. This study aimed to characterize the expression of three such transcripts (MALAT1, NEAT1, NKILA) and two protein-coding genes of the Hippo/EMT axis (YAP1, SNAI1) in a single-center Romanian cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and to interpret the resulting pattern in relation to the existing literature. Tumoral and non-tumoral liver tissue samples were obtained from patients with non-metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing surgical resection. Total RNA was extracted using TRIzol, reverse-transcribed, and quantified by SYBR Green-based qRT-PCR on a QuantStudio 7 Flex platform. Relative expression was calculated by the ΔΔCt method, normalized to B2M and 18S rRNA, and compared between the two groups using GraphPad Prism; p < 0.05 was considered significant. 39 tumoral and 39 non-tumoral tissue samples were analyzed. MALAT1 (p = 0.0008), YAP1 (p = 0.0016), and SNAI1 (p = 0.0365) were significantly overexpressed in tumoral tissue, whereas NEAT1 was significantly reduced (p = 0.0320). NKILA showed no significant difference between groups (p = 0.3592). Effect sizes were graded, with the strongest separation for MALAT1 and YAP1 and more modest differences for SNAI1 and NEAT1. MALAT1, YAP1, and SNAI1 overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma was confirmed in a single-center cohort from Romania, including predominantly early-stage subjects. The reduction of NEAT1 diverges from most prior reports and may reflect isoform-specific detection or the molecular abnormality of the cirrhotic tissue comparator. Future work should incorporate isoform-specific assays, etiology-stratified cohorts, and outcome correlation.
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BibTeX
@article{ciurdorean2026dysregulation,
title = {{Dysregulation of selected lncRNAs and Hippo/EMT-associated genes in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.}},
author = {Ana Maria Ciurdorean and Paul Chiroi and Liviuta Budisan and Ekaterina Isachesku and Alexandra Trif and Stefan Strilciuc and Daniel Gabriel Cosma and Ioana Rusu and Andra Ciocan and Razvan Ciocan and Ioana Berindan-Neagoe and Nadim Al Hajjar},
journal = {Medicine and pharmacy reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.15386/mpr-3032},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997851},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dysregulation of selected lncRNAs and Hippo/EMT-associated genes in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
AU - Ana Maria Ciurdorean
AU - Paul Chiroi
AU - Liviuta Budisan
AU - Ekaterina Isachesku
AU - Alexandra Trif
AU - Stefan Strilciuc
AU - Daniel Gabriel Cosma
AU - Ioana Rusu
AU - Andra Ciocan
AU - Razvan Ciocan
AU - Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
AU - Nadim Al Hajjar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - Medicine and pharmacy reports
DO - 10.15386/mpr-3032
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997851
AB - Liver cancer remains the sixth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with hepatocellular carcinoma accounting for most cases. Long non-coding RNAs regulate hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and invasion. This study aimed to characterize the expression of three such transcripts (MALAT1, NEAT1, NKILA) and two protein-coding genes of the Hippo/EMT axis (YAP1, SNAI1) in a single-center Romanian cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and to interpret the resulting pattern in relation to the existing literature. Tumoral and non-tumoral liver tissue samples were obtained from patients with non-metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing surgical resection. Total RNA was extracted using TRIzol, reverse-transcribed, and quantified by SYBR Green-based qRT-PCR on a QuantStudio 7 Flex platform. Relative expression was calculated by the ΔΔCt method, normalized to B2M and 18S rRNA, and compared between the two groups using GraphPad Prism; p < 0.05 was considered significant. 39 tumoral and 39 non-tumoral tissue samples were analyzed. MALAT1 (p = 0.0008), YAP1 (p = 0.0016), and SNAI1 (p = 0.0365) were significantly overexpressed in tumoral tissue, whereas NEAT1 was significantly reduced (p = 0.0320). NKILA showed no significant difference between groups (p = 0.3592). Effect sizes were graded, with the strongest separation for MALAT1 and YAP1 and more modest differences for SNAI1 and NEAT1. MALAT1, YAP1, and SNAI1 overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma was confirmed in a single-center cohort from Romania, including predominantly early-stage subjects. The reduction of NEAT1 diverges from most prior reports and may reflect isoform-specific detection or the molecular abnormality of the cirrhotic tissue comparator. Future work should incorporate isoform-specific assays, etiology-stratified cohorts, and outcome correlation.
SN - 2602-0807
SN - 2668-0572
ER -