Differential gene expression profile of multinodular goiter.

Introduction: The goiter, a neglected heterogeneous molecular disease, remains a major indication for thyroidectomies in its endemic regions.

Objectives: This study analyzed differential gene expression in surgical specimens diagnosed with multi nodular and compared the data to that of thyroid tissue without multinodular goiter from patients undergoing thyroidectomy in Manaus-AM, Brazil using RNA-seq technology.

Methodology: The transcriptome information of the surgical specimen fragments with and without multinodular goiter was accessed by Illumina HiSeq 2000 New Generation Sequencing (NGS) using the RNA-seq NEBNext® Ultra™ RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina®-#E7530L protocol and differential gene expression analysis.

Results: Differences were found between the gene expression profiles of the diseased tissues and those of the healthy control tissues; at least 70 genes were differentially expressed. The HOTS gene was expressed only in multinodular goiter tissues (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the gene expression profile of multinodular goiter is pro-tumoral and that HOTS can play a central role in multinodular goiter development.