title: Dysregulation of miR-15a and miR-214 in human pancreatic cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent reports indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in malignancies. However, the role that miRNAs play in pancreatic cancer remains to be determined. The purpose of this study was to investigate aberrantly expressed miRNAs in pancreatic cancer tissues and demonstrate their roles in disease progression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We detected the expression patterns of miRNAs in 10 pancreatic cancer tissues and their adjacent benign tissues by quantitative real time-PCR (qRT-PCR) and found that miR-15a and miR-214 were dysregulated in the tumor samples. This is the first time that miR-214 has been identified as aberrantly expressed in pancreatic cancer. In vitro experiments showed that overexpression of miR-15a inhibited the viability of pancreatic cancer cells, whereas overexpression of miR-214 decreased the sensitivity of the cells to gemcitabine (GEM). Furthermore, we identified WNT3A and FGF7 as potential targets of miR-15a and ING4 as a target of miR-214.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aberrant expression of miRNAs such as miR-15a and miR-214 results in different cellular effects in pancreatic cancer. Downregulation of miR-15a might contribute to proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells, whereas upregulation of miR-214 in pancreatic cancer specimens might be related to the poor response of pancreatic cancer cells to chemotherapy. MiR-15a directly targets multiple genes relevant in pancreatic cancer, suggesting that it may serve as a novel therapeutic target for treatment of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
authors.forename: Xing J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Cheng W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yue Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000235:genetics; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C505361:MIRN15 microRNA, human; C547397:MIRN214 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs