Identification of Specific Long Non-Coding RNA Expression: Profile and Analysis of Association with Clinicopathologic Characteristics and BRAF Mutation in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Background: In recent years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play a critical regulatory role in cancer biology. However, the contribution of lncRNAs to papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) remains largely unknown. Methods: RNA sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were used to detect and verify changes to the transcriptome profile in 12 PTC tissues compared to paired normal adjacent tissues. The statistical correlation between differentially expressed lncRNAs and clinicopathologic characteristics was analyzed, and potential lncRNA functions were predicted by examining annotations for the co-expressed mRNAs. Furthermore, the specific subgroup patterns of the PTC transcriptome remodeled by BRAF mutations were also analyzed. Results: A total of 188 lncRNAs and 505 mRNAs were differentially expressed in 50% or more of the PTC tissues (fold change >2; p