Identification of NIFTP-Specific mRNA Markers for Reliable Molecular Diagnosis of Thyroid Tumors

This study is aimed at discovering NIFTP-specific mRNA markers through RNA sequencing analysis of thyroid tumor tissues. We performed mRNA expression profiling for 74 fresh frozen thyroid tissue samples, including NIFTP and benign and malignant follicular-cell-derived tumors. NIFTP/malignant tumors showed 255 downregulated genes and 737 upregulated genes compared to benign tumors. Venn diagram analysis revealed 19 significantly upregulated and 7 downregulated mRNAs in NIFTP. Akaike information criterion analysis allowed us to selectOCLN,ZNF423,LYG1, andAQP5 mRNA markers. We subsequently developed a predictive model based on logistic regression analysis using these four mRNAs, which we validated in independent samples (n = 90) using a qRT-PCR assay. This model demonstrated high accuracy in predicting NIFTP in discovery dataset (AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic) = 0.960) and the validation dataset (AUC = 0.757). Our results suggest thatOCLN,ZNF423,LYG1, andAQP5 mRNA markers might serve as reliable molecular markers for identifying NIFTP among other thyroid tumors, ultimately aiding in accurate diagnosis and management of NIFTP patients.
Source: Endocrine Pathology - Category: Pathology Source Type: research