Identification of N6-methyladenosine-related lncRNAs for patients with primary glioblastoma.

To investigate the m6a-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that may be exploited as potential biomarkers in primary glioblastoma (pGBM), a cohort of 268 glioma samples from GSE16011 dataset was included for discovery. The Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) microarray and RNA sequencing databases were used for validation. Bioinformatic analyses were performed using the R software. The m6a-lncRNA co-expression networks were constructed, and four m6a-related lncRNAs (MIR9-3HG, LINC00900, MIR155HG, and LINC00515) were identified in pGBM patients on the univariate Cox regression analysis. Patients in the low-risk group had longer overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) than those in the high-risk group (P = 0.0025, P = 0.0070). Moreover, the high-risk group displayed older age, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type, classical and mesenchymal TCGA subtype, and G3 CGGA subtype. Distinct m6a status was identified according to histologic grade and two groups (low-risk and high-risk). Functional annotation showed that differentially expressed genes between the two groups were enriched in immune response, apoptosis, cell adhesion, negative regulation of transcription, negative regulation of RNA metabolic process, and regulation of RNA metabolic process. We profiled the m6a status in glioma and identified four m6a-related prognostic lncRNAs for pGBMs.