title: Herpes virus microRNA expression and significance in serous ovarian cancer.
abstract: Serous ovarian cancer (SEOC) is the deadliest gynecologic malignancy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs which regulate gene expression and protein translation. MiRNAs are also encoded by viruses with the intent of regulating their own genes and those of the infected cells. This is the first study assessing viral miRNAs in SEOC. MiRNAs sequencing data from 487 SEOC patients were downloaded from the TCGA website and analyzed through in-house sequencing pipeline. To cross-validate TCGA analysis, we measured the expression of miR-H25 by quantitative immunofluorescence in an additional cohort of 161 SEOC patients. Gene, miRNA expression, and cytotoxicity assay were performed on multiple ovarian cancer cell lines transfected with miR-H25 and miR-BART7. Outcome analysis was performed using multivariate Cox and Kaplan-Meier method. Viral miRNAs are more expressed in SEOC than in normal tissues. Moreover, Herpetic viral miRNAs (miR-BART7 from EBV and miR-H25 from HSV-2) are significant and predictive biomarkers of outcome in multivariate Cox analysis. MiR-BART7 correlates with resistance to first line chemotherapy and early death, whereas miR-H25 appears to impart a protective effect and long term survival. Integrated analysis of gene and viral miRNAs expression suggests that miR-BART7 induces directly cisplatin-resistance, while miR-H25 alters RNA processing and affects the expression of noxious human miRNAs such as miR-143. This is the first investigation linking viral miRNA expression to ovarian cancer outcome. Viral miRNAs can be useful to develop biomarkers for early diagnosis and as a potential therapeutic tool to reduce SEOC lethality.
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Deep
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pandya
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andreoli
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sieber
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shiquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Candice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dowell-Martino
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scambia
authors.affiliation: Danbury Hospital Research Institute, Danbury, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferlini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral