title: Characterization of miR-146a and miR-155 in blood, tissue and cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients and their impact on cell proliferation and migration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with an unchanged 5-year survival rate during the last decade. To detect reliable prognostic markers and improve patients' outcome in future, the aim of our study was to detect differences in microRNA (miRNA; miR) expression profile and further on to analyze the functional role of selected miRNAs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples from HNSCC patients and sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers were analyzed by microarrays and validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Data were compared with tumor tissue results and all findings were correlated with clinical parameters. Additionally, the proliferation and migration potential of two cell lines transfected with miRNA mimics and inhibitors for miR-146a and miR-155 were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Initial analysis of blood samples showed no significant differences between the miRNA profile of HNSCC patients and healthy controls (p > 0.05). Interestingly, down-regulation of miR-146a and miR-155 in blood of patients correlated with the occurrence of distant metastasis regarding tumor patients only (p = 0.023 and p = 0.028, respectively). Additionally, our investigations in tissue samples revealed a lower expression of miR-155 in tumor cells (p = 0.003) and a correlation with higher cT-classification for down-regulation of miR-146a (p = 0.005). Moreover, functional assays demonstrated that inhibition of miR-146a and miR-155 promoted dramatically proliferation and migration potential, whereas transfection of both mimics had an inhibitory effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Characterizing the expression of miR-146a and miR-155 and their functional role in tumor biology underlined significantly their proliferation and migration potential suggesting relevance as potential prognostic markers in HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany. Cornelia.Lerner@uks.eu.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wemmert
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bochen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kulas
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Linxweiler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasenfus
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinzelmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leidinger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Eckart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meese
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Urbschat
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; C524942:MIRN155 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Blood; Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; Metastasis; microRNA