title: The biphasic expression pattern of miR-200a and E-cadherin in epithelial ovarian cancer and its correlation with clinicopathological features.
abstract: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death among gynecologic malignancies. Despite great efforts to improve early detection and optimize chemotherapeutic regimens, the 5-year survival rate is only 30% for patients presenting with late-stage ovarian cancer. The high mortality of this disease is due to late diagnosis in over 70% of ovarian cancer cases. A class of small noncoding RNAs, or microRNAs, was found to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Some, but not all, of the data indicated that the miR-200 family was dysregulated in a variety of malignancies. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-200a and E-cadherin were significantly upregulated in EOC compared to benign epithelial ovarian cysts and normal ovarian tissues. However, further stratification of the subject indicated that the expression levels of miR-200a were significantly downregulated in late-stage (FIGO III+V) and grade 3 groups compared with early stage (FIGO I+II) and grade 1 to 2 groups. Similarly, relatively low levels of miR-200a were observed in the lymph compared to the node-negative group. E-cadherin expression was found to be absent in normal ovarian tissue and was frequently expressed in benign epithelial ovarian cysts, with absence or low levels observed in late-stage ovarian cancers. There was a significantly positive correlation between miR-200a and E-cadherin in EOC. The biphasic expression pattern suggested that miR-200a levels may serve as novel biomarkers for the early detection of EOC, and miR-200a and E-cadherin are candidate targets for the development of new treatment modalities against ovarian cancer.
authors.forename: Shaohua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Peizhen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yangjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science, Mercer University School of Medicine, Savanna, GA 31410, USA; Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou 213000, China. hoxa1010@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Guofeng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics*; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins; C533896:MIRN200 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs