A novel ITGB8 transcript variant sustains ovarian cancer cell survival through genomic instability and altered ploidy on a mutant p53 background.

Background: Transcript variants and protein isoforms are central to unique tissue functions and maintenance of homeostasis, in addition to being associated with aberrant states such as cancer, where their crosstalk with the mutated tumor suppressor p53 may contribute to genomic instability and chromosomal rearrangements. We previously identified several novel splice variants in ovarian cancer RNA-sequencing datasets; herein, we aimed to elucidate the biological effects of the Integrin Subunit Beta 8 variant (termed pITGB8-205).

Methods: Resolution of the full-length sequence of pITGB8-205 through rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE-PCR).

Pattern recognition in the landscape of seemingly random chimeric transcripts.

The molecular and functional diversity generated by chimeric transcripts (CTs) that are derived from two genes is indicated to contribute to tumor cell survival. Several gaps yet exist. The present research is a systematic study of the spectrum of CTs identified in RNA sequencing datasets of 160 ovarian cancer samples in the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (https://portal.