Transcriptomic Analysis of Gene Networks Regulated by U11 Small Nuclear RNA in Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Small nuclear RNA is a class of non-coding RNA that widely exist in the nucleus of eukaryotes. Accumulated evidences have shown that small nuclear RNAs are associated with the regulation of gene expression in various tumor types. To explore the gene expression changes and its potential effects mediated by U11 snRNA in bladder cancer cells, U11 snRNA knockout and overexpressed cell lines were constructed and further used to analyze the gene expression changes by RNA sequencing. The differentially expressed genes were found to be mainly enriched in tumor-related pathways both in the U11 knockout and overexpression cell lines, such as NF-kappa B signaling pathway, bladder cancer and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, alternative splicing events were proposed to participate in the potential regulatory mechanism induced by the U11 knockout or overexpression. In conclusion, U11 may be involved in the regulation of gene expression in bladder cancer cells, which may provide a potentially new biomarker for clinical diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer.