piR-823 and piR-20326 Differentially Regulate Stemness Programs in Ovarian Cancer Stem-like Cells
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, cilt.27, sa.19, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 19
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3390/ijms27198689
- Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest)
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Ovarian cancer stem-like cells (OCSCs) are major drivers of tumor recurrence and chemoresistance. Although PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of cancer stem cell (CSC) biology, their roles in OCSCs remain poorly understood. We performed a systematic analysis of public datasets to identify ovarian cancer-associated piRNAs and selected piR-823 and piR-20326 for functional validation. Their expression was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)following piRNA mimic and inhibitor transfections in three-dimensional (3D) ovarian cancer spheroids and ALDH+/CD133+ stem-like subpopulations isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Stemness-associated genes (ALDH1A1, ALDH1A2, ALDH1A3, SOX2, CD133, and NANOG) were analyzed, and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) transcriptomic data were used for clinical validation. Both piR-823 and piR-20326 were significantly enriched in spheroid cultures and ALDH+/CD133+ populations, supporting their association with stem-like phenotypes. Functional analyses showed that piR-823 modulation was associated with changes in multiple stemness-related markers, whereas piR-20326 showed variable effects across two-dimensional (2D) and spheroid 3D culture models. TCGA data confirmed consistent co-expression patterns among stemness-related genes in clinical samples. These findings identify piR-823 as a key regulator and piR-20326 as a modulatory component of the piRNA-mediated stemness network in ovarian cancer, supporting further investigation of the piRNA-stemness axis as a potential therapeutic target.