Long noncoding RNAs (IncRNAs), involved in cancer biology, contributing to essential cancer cell functions such as proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, have received increasing attention recently. Human Zinc ribbon domain containing 1 (ZNRD1) has been confirmed to be involved in carcinogenesis and development of multiple cancers. ZNRD1-AS1, a lncRNA in the upstream region of ZNRD1 which could down-regulate the expression of ZNRD1, has been identified as a possible component in carcinogenesis. The underlying relations of ZNRD1-AS1 with lung cancer development and metastasis remain obscure. In current study, we first evaluated the expression ZNRD1-AS1 and ZNRD1 among lung cancer tissues and corresponding normal tissues, which showed higher expression of ZNRD1-AS1 and lower expression of ZNRD1. To reveal the underlying mechanisms, we then investigated the associations between ZNRD1 eQTLs SNPs in ZNRD1-AS1 and risk of lung cancer in Han Chinese populations. G allele of SNP rs9261204 was significantly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer when compared with A allele (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.19-1.75; P = 1.06 × 10-4). A weaker, but similar effect was also observed in bladder cancer. SNP rs3757328 was also associated with increased risk of lung cancer (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.07-1.67; P = 0.011). Our findings first confirmed the contribution of LncRNA ZNRD1-AS1 to the development of lung cancer in Asian population.
Keywords: LncRNA; SNP; ZNRD1-AS1; lung cancer; susceptibility.