title: Polymorphism of the pre-miR-146a is associated with risk of cervical cancer in a Chinese population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  MicroRNAs are tiny non-coding RNAs that reportedly play an important role in numerous physiological processes. A G>C polymorphism (rs2910164) is located on the passenger strand of the precursor of miR-146a, which could alter mature miR-146a expression. We hypothesized that a possible association exists between miR-146a gene polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk in a population-based control study of female residents in Jiangsu Province.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects included 447 cervical cancer cases and 443 cancer-free controls with frequency matched by age. We genotyped the functional polymorphism of miR-146a (rs2910164) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, and used a sample of 24 cervical cancer tissue to test the expression of miR-146a by real-time quantitative reverse transcription.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study indicated that the subjects carrying GG homozygote had a 1.496-fold increased risk than those carrying CG/CC genotypes (95% CI=1.068-2.095). Moreover, miR-146a quantification showed that the carriers of GG genotype had obviously more reduced miR-146a expression level compared with the carriers of CC genotype.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that the risk of cervical cancer in a Chinese population partly results from miRNA-146a expression deviation in vivo, being caused by common polymorphism in miR-146a. This is an initial study to indicate that miR-146a (rs2910164) might contribute to cervical cancer susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Meilin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shilong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Delan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhengdong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Suping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D044466:Asian People; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs