A prognostic signature based on snoRNA predicts the overall survival of lower-grade glioma patients.

Introduction: Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs enriched in the nucleus which direct post-transcriptional modifications of rRNAs, snRNAs and other molecules. Recent studies have suggested that snoRNAs have a significant role in tumor oncogenesis and can be served as prognostic markers for predicting the overall survival of tumor patients.

Methods: We screened 122 survival-related snoRNAs from public databases and eventually selected 7 snoRNAs that were most relevant to the prognosis of lower-grade glioma (LGG) patients for the establishment of the 7-snoRNA prognostic signature. Further, we combined clinical characteristics related to the prognosis of glioma patients and the 7-snoRNA prognostic signature to construct a nomogram.

Results: The prognostic model displayed greater predictive power in both validation set and stratification analysis. Results of enrichment analysis revealed that these snoRNAs mainly participated in the post-transcriptional process such as RNA splicing, metabolism and modifications. In addition, 7-snoRNA prognostic signature were positively correlated with immune scores and expression levels of multiple immune checkpoint molecules, which can be used as potential biomarkers for immunotherapy prediction. From the results of bioinformatics analysis, we inferred that SNORD88C has a major role in the development of glioma, and then performed in vitro experiments to validate it. The results revealed that SNORD88C could promote the proliferation, invasion and migration of glioma cells.

Discussion: We established a 7-snoRNA prognostic signature and nomogram that can be applied to evaluate the survival of LGG patients with good sensitivity and specificity. In addition, SNORD88C could promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioma cells and is involved in a variety of biological processes related to DNA and RNA.