Abstract A004: Patterns of lncRNA-regulated gene expression in high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas
Authors: Reid Brett M. , Chen Ann , Chen Zhihua , Karreth Florian A. , Kanetsky Peter , Permuth Jennifer B. , Saglam Ozlen , Teer Jamie K. , Yu Xiaoqing , Gayther Simon , Goode Ellen , Pharoah Paul , Sellers Thomas A. , Lawrenson Kate , Tyrer Jonathan 
Published: March 2024

Introduction: Identifying dysregulated gene expression in ovarian cancers has been limited by a deficit of available normal tissues. Here, we generated the largest set of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) tumors with normal precursor tissues for transcriptome analyses to identify lncRNA expression patterns, provide insight into their cellular contexts and functions, and assess their relevance to HGSOC pathogenesis and genetic susceptibility. Methods: We performed RNA sequencing on 220 primary HGSOCs and 116 benign epithelia (micro-dissected fallopian tube, ovarian surface, and inclusion cyst epithelia), and combined samples with 428 HGSOCs from TCGA, 60 HGSOCs from a prior study, and 180 bulk ovary tissues from GTEx. Reads were processed with a uniform bioinformatic and quality control pipeline, combined and batch corrected. Normalized TPM expression values were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test with &gt;2-fold change and FDR &lt;1% considered statistically significant. We computed weighted gene co-expression networks for each tissue type and tested for enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and gene ontologies within co-expression modules. Results: Transcriptomes included 27,700 expressed genes (8,202 lncRNAs) across 706 HGSOCs, 180 bulk ovary, and 88 ovarian epithelia tissues. Most genes were expressed in all tissues, though 5% each showed HGSOC- or normal tissue-specific expression which comprised ≥50% lncRNA. Comparing HGSOCs to normal tissues identified 11,804 DEGs with 4,522 lncRNAs (DElncRNA) of which ~50% were tissue-specific. DEGs included MUC16 and multiple GWAS/TWAS implicated susceptibility genes including RAD51, BRIP1, BNC2, TIPARP-AS1, PRC1, KANSL1, ANKLE1, CHMP4C, ESRP2, and CCNE1. The most highly expressed DElncRNA in HGSOC were upregulated RMRP (P=1.4 × 10−39), SNHG1 (P=3.0 × 10−27), and HAGLR (P=2.0 × 10−24) at the HOXD risk locus. Lower proportions of lncRNA were seen in the HGSOC co-expression modules compared to those in normal tissues and less (3% vs. 15%) HGSOC modules were considered strongly lncRNA regulated (&gt;50% lncRNA in module). Tissue-specific DElncRNA tended toward upregulation in HGSOC compared to ovarian epithelia with enriched modules associated with cell cycle regulation (P=1.5 × 10−38); and toward downregulation in HGSOC compared to bulk ovary with enriched modules associated with chemokine signaling/response (P=1.7 × 10−113). Conclusions: The lower proportion of lncRNA involved in HGSOC co-expression networks indicates a marked loss of regulation by lncRNA. Preliminary interrogation of HGSOC-dysregulated lncRNA expression revealed tissue-specific differences that highlight unique biological pathways in precursor epithelia and the ovarian microenvironment that contribute to HGSOC pathogenesis. Our results provide additional support for previously nominated risk genes. eQTL analysis has recently been completed and integration with GWAS are underway to elucidate lncRNA and lncRNA-regulated susceptibility genes and will be presented at the conference.

Citation Format: Brett M. Reid, Ann Chen, Zhihua Chen, Florian A. Karreth, Peter Kanetsky, Jennifer B. Permuth, Ozlen Saglam, Jamie K. Teer, Xiaoqing Yu, Simon Gayther, Ellen Goode, Paul Pharoah, Thomas A. Sellers, Kate Lawrenson, Jonathan Tyrer. Patterns of lncRNA-regulated gene expression in high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Ovarian Cancer; 2023 Oct 5-7; Boston, Massachusetts. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(5 Suppl_2):Abstract nr A004.