Altered MicroRNA expression in cervical carcinomas.
OBJECTIVE
MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small noncoding RNAs that are 18 to 25 nucleotides in length; they regulate the stability or translational efficiency of target mRNAs. Emerging evidence suggests that miRNAs might be involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of human cancers.


METHODS
In this study, we profiled miRNA expression in 10 early stage invasive squamous cell carcinomas (ISCC) and 10 normal cervical squamous epithelial specimens using TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR array methods. In order to evaluate the role of miR-199a, one of the most significantly overexpressed in ISCCs, we transfected cervical cancer cells (SiHa and ME-180) with anti-miR-199a oligonucleotides and assessed the cell viability.


RESULTS
We found 70 genes (68 up-regulated, 2 down-regulated) with significantly different expression in the ISCCs compared with normal samples (P < 0.05). When we analyzed the expression of the 10 most significant miRNAs in 31 ISCCs, increased miR-127 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.006). Transfection of anti-miR-199a oligonucleotides to cervical cancer cells suppressed cell growth in vitro, which was potentiated with the anticancer agent cisplatin.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that miRNA deregulation may play an important role in the malignant transformation of cervical squamous cells. In addition, they may offer new candidate targets to be exploited for both prognostic and therapeutic strategies in patients with cervical cancer.
Lee
Jeong-Won
JW
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Choi
Chel Hun
CH
Choi
Jung-Joo
JJ
Park
Young-Ae
YA
Kim
Seung-Jun
SJ
Hwang
Seung Yong
SY
Kim
Woo Young
WY
Kim
Tae-Joong
TJ
Lee
Je-Ho
JH
Kim
Byoung-Gie
BG
Bae
Duk-Soo
DS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D035683:MicroRNAs