Abstract Long-chain non-encoded RNAs (lncRNAs) are important in many life activities and can participate in the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, lncRNAs can be used as basis for developing new strategies to hinder liver cancer. To investigate the utility of lncRNAs in HCC as potential biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis, we mined genomic data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and analyzed the gene expressions from 374 tumor patients and 50 normal patients. The abnormal expressions of 387 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) were identified from a total of 3099 lncRNAs. Moreover, 18 modules were divided based on WGCNA, and 2 of the 18 modules were positively correlated with stage and grade, and negatively correlated with survival time. Finally, 10 lncRNAs were found and their main functions are the enhancement of cellular metabolic capacity and cell proliferation. These 10 lncRNAs may serve as novel prognostic markers and therapeutic targets, and may help guide subsequent studies on HCC.

Abstract Parthenogenetically activated oocytes cannot develop to term in mammals owing to abnormal epigenetic modifications. Methylation of the N6 position of adenosine (m6A) is a post-transcriptional epigenetic modification of RNA. To investigate the role of m6A methylation in parthenogenetic (PA) embryonic development, we analyzed METTL3, METTL14, FTO, ALKBH5, YTHDF2, IGF2BP1, and IGF2BP2 expression by quantitative real-time PCR. These genes were found dynamically expressed during the 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, and blastocyst stages of the embryo. Compared to normally fertilized embryos, the expression of these genes was perturbed in PA embryos, especially at the 8-cell stage. Furthermore, immunofluorescence was used to detect m6A expression. The results demonstrated that m6A expression decreased in the 2-cell stage, whereas it increased in the 8-cell stage of PA embryos. Taken together, these results suggest that the expression of RNA methylation-related genes was perturbed, leading to abnormal m6A modification during early development in PA embryos.

Abstract The sexually dimorphic expression of H19/IGF2 is evolutionarily conserved. To investigate whether the expression of H19/IGF2 in the female porcine eye is sex-dependent, gene expression and methylation status were evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP). We hypothesized that H19/IGF2 might exhibit a different DNA methylation status in the female eye. In order to evaluate our hypothesis, parthenogenetic (PA) cells were used for analysis by qPCR and BSP. Our results showed that H19 and IGF2 were over-expressed in the female eye compared with the male eye (3-fold and 2-fold, respectively). We observed a normal monoallelic methylation pattern for H19 differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Compared with H19 DMRs, IGF2 DMRs showed a different methylation pattern in the eye. Taken together, these results suggest that elevated expression of H19/IGF2 is caused by a specific chromatin structure that is regulated by the DNA methylation status of IGF2 DMRs in the female eye.