title: Aberrant expression of miR-20a and miR-203 in cervical cancer.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that are critical regulators of various diseases. MicroRNA- 20a (miR-20a) and microRNA-203 (miR-203) have previously shown significant alteration in a range of cancers. In this study, the expression levels of miR-20a and miR-203 in 100 cervical cancer tissues were detected by qRT-PCR and compared to patient matched-nontumor cervical tissues. Correlations between expression level and clinicopathologic characteristics of cervical cancer were also analyzed. Finally, we studied the effect of miR- 20a and miR-203 on cell proliferation in cervical cancer cell lines by MTT. We found that the expression level of miR-20a (P<0.001) was significantly higher in cervical cancer patients than in healthy controls, while that of miR-203 (P<0.001) was lower. Aberrant expression of miR-20a was correlated with lymph node metastasis (LNM), histological grade and tumor diameter, but down-regulated miR-203 was correlated with LNM only. Furthermore, we found that over-expression of miR-203 decreased cell proliferation, while reduction of miR- 20a also prevented tumor progression. Our results support the involvement of miR-20a and miR-203 in cervical tumorigenesis. We propose that miRNAs might be used as therapeutic agents for cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecologic Oncology, the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: De-Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jun-Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C546703:MIRN203 microRNA, human; C534451:MIRN20a microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs