A functional polymorphism in the miR-146a gene is associated with the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma.
A G > C polymorphism (rs2910164) is located in the stem region opposite to the mature miR-146a sequence, which results in a change from G:U pair to C:U mismatch in the stem structure of miR-146a precursor. Here, we elucidated the biological significance of this polymorphism, based on cancer association study and cell model system. The cancer association study included 479 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 504 control subjects. We found that the genotype distribution of this polymorphism in HCC cases was significantly different from that in control subjects (P = 0.026). The association between the genotype and the risk of HCC was further analyzed using multivariate unconditional logistic regression, with adjustment for sex, age and hepatitis B virus status. The results revealed that male individuals with GG genotype were 2-fold more susceptible to HCC (odds ratio = 2.016, 95% confidence interval = 1.056-3.848, P = 0.034) compared with those with CC genotype. We next examined the influence of this polymorphism on the production of mature miR-146a and found that G-allelic miR-146a precursor displayed increased production of mature miR-146a compared with C-allelic one. Further investigations disclosed that miR-146a could obviously promote cell proliferation and colony formation in NIH/3T3, an immortalized but non-transformed cell line. These data suggest that the G > C polymorphism in miR-146a precursor may result in important phenotypic traits that have biomedical implications. Our findings warrant further investigations on the relation between microRNA polymorphism and human diseases.
Xu
Teng
T
Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
Zhu
Ying
Y
Wei
Qing-Kun
QK
Yuan
Yunfei
Y
Zhou
Fan
F
Ge
Yi-Yuan
YY
Yang
Jian-Rong
JR
Su
Hang
H
Zhuang
Shi-Mei
SM
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017931:DNA Primers; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D012307:Risk Factors
D017931:DNA Primers; C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs