Interfering Expression of Chimeric Transcript Promotes Cell Proliferation in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Introduction: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a distinct type of head and neck cancer which is mostly prevalent in southern China. The development of NPC involves accumulation of multiple genetic changes. Chromosomal translocation is always thought to be accompanied with the fusion chimeric products. To data, the role of the fusion chimeric transcript remains obscure.

Materials And Methods: We performed RNA sequencing to detect the fusion genes in ten NPC tissues. Sanger sequencing and quantitative RT-PCR were used to measure the level of the fusion chimeric transcript in NPC tissues and cell lines. The functional experiments such as CCK8 assay, colony formation, and migration/invasion were conducted to analyze the role of this transcript in NPC .

Results: We demonstrated that the chimeric transcript was formed by trans-splicing of adjacent genes in the absence of chromosomal rearrangement and observed in both NPC patients and cell lines in parallel. Low-expression of the chimeric transcript induced the protein expression of and promoted cell proliferation, metastasis/invasion, and transforming ability .

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the chimeric transcript is a product of trans-splicing of two adjacent genes and might be a tumor suppressor gene, potentially having the role of anticancer activity.