Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dysregulated in tumors, but only a handful are known to play pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferred lncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, oncogenes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) by modeling their effects on the activity of transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in 5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays. Our predictions included hundreds of candidate onco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancer lncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for the dysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and pathways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrate proof of concept, we showed that perturbations targeting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) and TUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysregulated cancer genes and altered proliferation of breast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis indicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregulated in a tumor-specific manner, some, including OIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergistically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumor contexts. Chiu et al. present a pan-cancer analysis of lncRNA regulatory interactions. They suggest that the dysregulation of hundreds of lncRNAs target and alter the expression of cancer genes and pathways in each tumor context. This implies that hundreds of lncRNAs can alter tumor phenotypes in each tumor context

Characterization of magnetostatic surface spin waves in magnetic thin films: Evaluation for microelectronic applications

10.1007/s00339-012-7542-xApplied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing1112369-378APAM

Do Female Sex Offenders Receive Preferential Treatment in Criminal Charging and Sentencing?

Research suggests that sexual abuse by females is viewed as less harmful than male-perpetrated abuse, and that females are treated more leniently by the justice system. The authors tested two hypotheses: female sex offenders would receive shorter incarceration sentences than their male counterparts because of their gender (H1), and female sex offenders would be charged less harshly than male sex offenders because of their caretaking role with victims (H2). Little support for H1, and only partial support for H2, was found. Results showed that female sex offenders who victimized adolescents for whom they were not caretakers were charged less severely. Copyright © National Center for State Courts