title: Potential diagnostic implications of miR-144 overexpression in human oesophageal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Insidious symptomatology, late clinical presentation and poor prognosis of oesophageal cancer (EC) highlight the pressing need for novel non-invasive biomarkers for early tumour diagnosis and better prognosis. The present study was carried out to evaluate the clinical significance of circulating and tissue miR-144 expression in oesophageal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical significance of miR-144 expression was evaluated in preneoplastic (12) and neoplastic (35) oesophageal cancer tissues as well as matched distant non-malignant tissues using real-time PCR (qPCR). Circulating levels of miR-144 were also analyzed in serum samples of EC patients as well as normal individuals to determine the diagnostic potential of miR-144. Further, targets of miR-144 were predicted using bioinformatic tools and their gene ontology (GO) terms were assigned.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Real-time PCR analysis revealed significant upregulation of miR-144 in 29 of 35 (83%) EC tissues as compared to matched distant non-malignant tissues (P=0.010). a0 ll the dysplastic tissues showed upregulation of miR-144 as compared to their matched distant non-malignant tissues. Relative levels of circulating miR-144 in serum significantly distinguished EC patients from normal controls (P=0.015; AUC = 0.731) with high sensitivity of 94.7 per cent. Bioinformatically predicted target, PUR-aplha (PURA) was found to be significantly (P=0.018) downregulated in 81 per cent (26/32) EC patients and its expression was found to be significantly and negatively correlated with miR-144 expression at mRNA level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings showed significant upregulation of miR-144 in serum samples of EC patients indicating its potential as minimally invasive marker. Further studies need to be done to understand the role of miR-144 in the pathogenesis of EC.
authors.affiliation: University School of Biotechnology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Anoop
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saraya
authors.affiliation: University School of Biotechnology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rinu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C554293:MIRN144 microRNA, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; C501130:PURA protein, human; C504812:SPRED1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors