Abstract
Zinc ribbon domain containing 1 (ZNRD1)
may play integral roles in immune response against HPV infection and cervical cancer. Its antisense transcript,
ZNRD1-AS1
, is an important regulator of
ZNRD1
. By bioinformatics analyses, we identified that several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
ZNRD1-AS1
may be expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for
ZNRD1
. So we hypothesized that these eQTLs SNPs in
ZNRD1-AS1
may influence the susceptibility of cervical cancer through influencing
ZNRD1
expression. We designed a population-based case-control study containing 1486 cervical cancer patients and 1536 controls to test the associations of three
ZNRD1
eQTLs SNPs (rs3757328, rs6940552 and rs9261204) in
ZNRD1-AS1
with the risk of cervical cancer. Logistic regression analyses in additive genetic model showed that all the three eQTLs SNPs decreased the risk of cervical cancer. Compared with those carrying “0” variant allele, subjects carrying “1-6” variant alleles had a 20% decreased risk of cervical cancer. Moreover, the haplotype containing variant alleles of these three SNPs significantly decreased the risk of cervical cancer when compared with the most frequent haplotype. In conclusion,
ZNRD1
eQTLs SNPs in
ZNRD1-AS1
could have a predisposition for the development of cervical cancer.