Long non-coding RNA TALAM1 is a transcriptional target of RUNX2 transcription factor in lung adenocarcinoma

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. It has been described that genetic and epigenetic factors play a crucial role in the onset and evolution of this disease. Previous reports have shown that essential transcription factors in embryonic development contribute to this pathology. Runt-related transcription factor (RUNX) proteins belong to a family of master regulators of embryonic developmental programs. Specifically, RUNX2 is the master transcription factor (TF) of osteoblastic differentiation, and it has been seen it can be involved with pathologies such as prostate, thyroid, and lung cancer regulating processes of apoptosis and mesenchymal epithelium transition. Here, we identified TALAM1 how gene target of RUNX2 TF in lung cancer and then perform functional validation of the main findings. Methods: We performed ChIP-seq analysis in tumoral samples of a patient diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma to evaluate the target genes of RUNX2 TF. In addition, we performed shRNA assays of RUNX2 in lung adenocarcinoma cell line to confirm its regulatory role in TALAM1 expression. Results: Here we reported RUNX2 overexpression in cell lines and primary culture of lung cancer. Interestingly, we found that lncRNA TALAM1 was target of RUNX2 and that this transcriptional regulation was negative.