Evaluation of the LncRNA TMPO AS-۱ Expression Level in Melanoma Tissues in Comparison to Paired Normal Marginal Tissues

Background: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is recognized as an essential controller of gene expression and other activities of the cells. Additionally, lncRNAs have a critical role in the progression and growth of human malignancies, like melanoma. Among lncRNAs, thymopoietin (TMPO)-antisense RNA ۱ (TMPO AS- ۱) has a significant role in melanoma. The current study aimed to determine the expression level of TMPO AS-۱ in melanoma patients.Method: In this case-control research, ۵۰ pairs of tumor and non-tumor tissues of melanoma patients were separated by the surgeon. Subsequently, TMPO AS-۱ expression level in the tissues was evaluated. We used TRIzol to extract total RNA from the tumor and non-tumor tissues, following which complementary DNA was synthesized. The TMPO AS-۱ expression level of TMPO AS-۱ was evaluated via quantitative reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. Moreover, clinicopathological features of the melanoma patients were evaluated.Results: Our findings revealed that TMPO AS-۱ expression level was upregulated in the melanoma tissues in comparison with the non-tumor ones. Remarkably, the TMPO AS-۱ expression level was considerably correlated to the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients, including lymph nodes and distant metastasis.Conclusion: Upregulation of TMPO AS-۱ in melanoma indicated that TMPO AS- ۱ and its downstream signal pathways could be used as a new target treatment option and prognostic tumor marker for melanoma.