Functions and Mechanisms of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Noncoding RNAs in Bone-Invasive Pituitary Adenomas

Purpose-To explore the molecular mechanism and prognosis of bone-invasive pituitary adenomas (BIPAs). Experimental Design-A total of 274 patients with pituitary adenomas were followed up. Transcriptomic microarrays analysis was performed on 10 pituitary adenomas, including 5 BIPAs and 5 nonbone-invasive pituitary adenomas (NBIPAs). The targeted molecular markers were validated by qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, elisa and osteoclast differentiation. Results-Clinical variable analyses revealed a significant correlation between bone invasion and female sex, large tumor volume, non-gross total resection (NGTR) and tumor regrowth. BIPAs had worse PFS (progression free survival) than did NBIPAs in the NGTR and NFPA (nonfunctional pituitary adenoma) groups. GO functional and KEGG pathway analyses showed that the biological processes and pathways were primarily immune and inflammatory pathways. Pathway act work showed that osteoclast differentiation pathway was significantly implicated in the pathway network. BIPAs had higher expression of TNF-α than that of NBIPAs on immunohistochemistry. In vitro, TNF-α could induce RAW264.7 cells to differentiate into mature osteoclasts, leading to bone destruction. NR_033258, lncRNA SNHG24, miR-181c-5p and miR-454-3p can regulate TNF-α expression. Conclusions-BIPAs had worse PFS than did NBIPAs in the NGTR and NFPA groups. Inflammatory and immune factors play an important role in BIPAs. TNF-α can directly induce osteoclast differentiation in BIPAs. NR_033258, lncRNA SNHG24, miR-181c-5p and miR-454-3p can regulate TNF-α expression. TNF-α and its related lncRNAs and miRNAs represent potential therapeutic targets for bone-invasive pituitary adenomas in the future.