SnoRNA profiling in colorectal cancer and assessment of non-invasive biomarker capacity by ddPCR in fecal samples
Javier Gómez-Matas,
Saray Duran-Sanchon,
Juan-José Lozano,
Giulio Ferrero,
Sonia Tarallo,
Barbara Pardini,
Alessio Naccarati,
Antoni Castells,
Meritxell Gironella
Affiliations
Javier Gómez-Matas
Gastrointestinal & Pancreatic Oncology Group, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)/ Hospital Clínic Barcelona/ Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Saray Duran-Sanchon
Gastrointestinal & Pancreatic Oncology Group, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)/ Hospital Clínic Barcelona/ Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Sonia Tarallo
Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), c/o IRCCS Candiolo, Turin, Italy; Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Turin, Italy
Barbara Pardini
Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), c/o IRCCS Candiolo, Turin, Italy; Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Turin, Italy
Alessio Naccarati
Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), c/o IRCCS Candiolo, Turin, Italy; Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Turin, Italy
Antoni Castells
Gastrointestinal & Pancreatic Oncology Group, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)/ Hospital Clínic Barcelona/ Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Meritxell Gironella
Gastrointestinal & Pancreatic Oncology Group, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)/ Hospital Clínic Barcelona/ Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona – Institut d’investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Department of Experimental Pathology, Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona-Spanish National Research Council (IIBB-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain; Corresponding author
Summary: Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have been identified dysregulated in several pathologies, and these alterations can be detected in tissues and in circulation. The main aim of this study was to analyze the whole snoRNome in advanced colorectal neoplasms and to identify new potential non-invasive snoRNA-based biomarkers in fecal samples by different analytical approaches. SNORA51, SNORD15B, SNORA54, SNORD12B, SNORD12C, SNORD72, SNORD89, and several members of SNORD115 and SNORD116 clusters were consistently deregulated in both tissue sets. After technical validation, SNORA51 and SNORD15B were detected in FIT+ samples. SNORA51 was significantly upregulated in FIT+ samples from CRC patients compared to healthy controls. This upregulation, together with the fecal hemoglobin concentration, was sufficient to identify, among FIT+ individuals, patients with CRC (AUC = 0.86) and individuals with advanced adenomas (AUC = 0.68). These findings portray snoRNAs as an alternative source of candidates for further studies and SNORA51 appears as a potential non-invasive biomarker for CRC detection.