title: MicroRNA-224 targets ERG2 and contributes to malignant progressions of meningioma.
abstract: MicroRNA-224 is overexpressed in various malignant tumors with poor prognosis, which plays a critical role in biological processes including cell proliferation, apoptosis and several developmental and physiological progressions. However, the potential association between miR-224 and clinical outcome in patients with meningiomas remains unknown. Here, we investigate miR-224 expression and biological functions in meningiomas. MiR-224 expression was measured by Northern blot analysis and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in meningioma and normal brain tissues. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to exam its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognostic value. The biological effects of miR-224 on the cell proliferation and apoptosis in meningioma cells were examined by MTT assay and apoptosis assay. We found the expression levels of miR-224 were significantly higher in meningioma tissues than that in normal brain, positively correlated with advanced pathological grade. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that meningioma patients with low miR-224 expression exhibited significantly prolonged overall and recurrence-free survival. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ERG2 was an identical candidate target gene of MiR-224 in vitro. Our results indicated that downregulation of miR-224 suppressed cell growth and resulted in the enhancement of cell apoptosis through activation of the ERG2-BAK-induced apoptosis pathway. Our findings imply the miR-224 expression could predict the overall survival and recurrence-free survival of patients with meningioma and it might be a promising therapeutic target for treating malignant meningiomas.
authors.affiliation: The 411 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 15 Dongjiangwan Road, Shanghai 200081, China.
authors.forename: Maomao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The 411 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 15 Dongjiangwan Road, Shanghai 200081, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: The 411 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 15 Dongjiangwan Road, Shanghai 200081, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: The 411 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 15 Dongjiangwan Road, Shanghai 200081, China.
authors.forename: Tingyan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: The 81 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 34 Taiping Road, Nanjing 210002, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The 81 Hospital of PLA, Department of Neurosurgery, 34 Taiping Road, Nanjing 210002, China. Electronic address: liangchong1984@163.com.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002455:Cell Division; D018450:Disease Progression; D051638:Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D051638:Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels; C092509:KCNH6 protein, human; C546140:MIRN224 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Apoptosis; ERG2; Meningiomas; Proliferation; miR-224