mRNA deep sequencing profiling and integrative miRNA-mRNA network analysis in pediatric Burkitt leukemia and lymphoma

In pediatric Burkitt leukemia/lymphoma, mRNA deep sequencing and miRNA profiling in 13 patients linked 11 dysregulated miRNAs to inverse mRNA target correlations.

• Why it matters: Genome-wide mRNA/miRNA dysregulation in pediatric BuAL/BuLY is scarce, limiting network-level understanding of how MYC-driven transcriptional programs and immune signaling are altered.
• What they did: Fresh tumor RNA from 13 pediatric BL patients (BuAL n=7, BuLY n=6) and 4 pediatric normal control lymphoid tissue samples underwent mRNA deep sequencing and miRNA microarrays; dysregulated miRNAs were integrated with validated targets using inverse-significant miRNA–mRNA correlations (p≤0.5, BH-adjusted correlation p-value 0.5) and DE thresholds (FC>1.5, p-adj<0.05).
• The result: Functional enrichment showed a MYC-driven proliferative backbone with strong E2F4 and MYB activity, activated MAPK/PI3K/G2-M checkpoint signaling, and repression of JAK-STAT, NFkB, TP53, TRAIL, and hypoxia pathways (p-adj<0.05), with miRNA–mRNA networks implicating transcriptional activity and attenuated immune surveillance.