MicroRNA-200 Family Profile: A Promising Ancillary Tool for Accurate Cancer Diagnosis

CRKL but not CRKII contributes to hemin-induced erythroid differentiation of CML

Destruction of erythropoiesis process leads to various diseases, including thrombocytopenia, anaemia, and leukaemia. miR-429-CT10 regulation of kinase-like (CRKL) axis involved in development, progression and metastasis of cancers. However, the exact role of miR-429-CRKL axis in leukaemic cell differentiation are still unknown. The current work aimed to uncover the effect of miR-429-CRKL axis on erythropoiesis. In the present study, CRKL upregulation was negatively correlated with miR-429 downregulation in both chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patient and CR patient samples. Moreover, CRKL expression level was significantly decreased while miR-429 expression level was increased during the erythroid differentiation of K562 cells following hemin treatment. Functional investigations revealed that overexpression and knockdown of CRKL was remarkably effective in suppressing and promoting hemin-induced erythroid differentiation of K562 cells, whereas, miR-429 exhibited opposite effects to CRKL. Mechanistically, miR-429 regulates erythroid differentiation of K562 cells by downregulating CRKL via selectively targeting CRKL-3'-untranslated region (UTR) through Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Conversely, CRKII had no effect on erythroid differentiation of K562 cells. Taken together, our data demonstrated that CRKL (but not CRKII) and miR-429 contribute to development, progression and erythropoiesis of CML, miR-429-CRKL axis regulates erythropoiesis of K562 cells via Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, providing novel insights into effective diagnosis and therapy for CML patients.

The Importance of Selected Dysregulated microRNAs in Diagnosis and Prognosis of Childhood B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is a frequent type of childhood hematological malignancy. The disease is classified into several subtypes according to genetic abnormalities. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in pathological processes (e.g., proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation). A miRNA is a group of short non-coding RNAs with relevant regulatory effects on gene expression achieved by suppression of the translation or degradation of messenger RNA (mRNA). These molecules act as tumor suppressors and/or oncogenes in the pathogenesis of pediatric leukemias. The characteristic features of miRNAs are their stable form and the possibility of secretion to the circulatory system. The role of miRNA in BCP-ALL pathogenesis is still emerging, but several studies have suggested using miRNA expression profiles as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy in leukemia. The dysregulation of some miRNAs involved in childhood acute lymphoid leukemia, such as miR-155, miR-200c, miR-100, miR-181a, miR125b, and miR146a is discussed, showing their possible employment as therapeutic targets. In the current review, the capabilities of miRNAs in non-invasive diagnostics and their prognostic potential as biomarkers are presented.

Clinical Value and Molecular Function of Circulating MicroRNAs in Endometrial Cancer Regulation: A Systematic Review

This systematic review of literature highlights the different microRNAs circulating in the serum or plasma of endometrial cancer patients and their association with clinical and prognostic characteristics in endometrial cancer. This study also investigates the molecular functions of these circulating microRNAs. According to this systematic review, a total of 33 individual circulating miRs (-9, -15b, -20b-5p, -21, -27a, -29b, -30a-5p, -92a, -99a, -100, -135b, -141, -142-3p, -143-3p, -146a-5p, -150-5p, -151a-5p, -186, -195-5p, -199b, -200a, -203, -204, -205, -222, -223, -301b, -423-3p, -449, -484, -887-5p, -1228, and -1290) and 6 different panels of miRs (“miR-222/miR-223/miR-186/miR-204”, “miR-142-3p/miR-146a-5p/miR-151a-5p”, “miR-143-3p/miR-195-5p/miR-20b-5p/miR-204-5p/miR-423-3p/miR-484”, “mir-9/miR-1229”, “miR-9/miR-92a”, and “miR-99a/miR-199b”) had a significant expression variation in EC patients compared to healthy patients. Also, seven individual circulating miRs (-9, -21, -27a, -29b, -99a, -142-3p, and -449a) had a significant expression variation according to EC prognostic factors such as the histological type and grade, tumor size, FIGO stage, lymph node involvement, and survival rates. One panel of circulating miRs (“-200b/-200c/-203/-449a”) had a significant expression variation according to EC myometrial invasion. Further studies are needed to better understand their function and circulation.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of miR-200 family in breast cancer: A meta-analysis and systematic review

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer for women all over the world. Great interests have been paid to discover accurate and noninvasive methods for breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Although the diagnostic and prognostic value of microRNA-200 (miRNA- 200, miR-200) family has been revealed in many studies, the results were inconsistent. Thus, this meta-analysis aims to assess the overall value of miRNA-200 family in breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

METHOD

Relevant studies were searched from the following databases: PubMed, PMC, EMBASE, and ScienceDirect using key words: ("miRNA-200 family" or "miR-141" or "miR-200a" or "miR-200b" or "miR-200c" or "miR-429") and ("HER2" or "Luminal A" or "Luminal B" or "TNBC") and ("breast cancers" or "breast carcinoma" or "breast malignancy" or "breast tumor"). The sensitivity, specificity, AUC were then calculated to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of the miR-200 family. As for the prognostic value of the miR-200 family, the pooled hazard ratio (HR) was assessed. Heterogeneity among individual studies was also examined by subgroup analyses.

RESULT

A total of 24 articles were included in the meta-analysis. The diagnostic value of miR-200s in BC was presented by the pooled sensitivity was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.83-0.88); the pooled specificity was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72-0.89); the pooled AUC was 0.931 (95% CI: 0.919-0.942). Besides, expression of miR-200s in metastatic breast cancer has sensitivity, specificity and AUC of 0.70 (95%CI: 0.56-0.81), 0.72 (95%CI: 0.61-0.81), and 0.814 (95%CI: 0.741-0.903), respectively. The meta-analysis then revealed that high expression of miR-200 family corresponded to poor OS (HR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.03-2.52), poor DFS (HR: 1.55, 95% CI: 0.95-2.56) in BC patients while downregulation of miRNA-200s corresponded to poor OS (HR= 0.84, 95%CI: 0.46-1.63) in TNBC patients and poor OS (HR=0.49; 95%CI: 0.27-0.88) in luminal BC patient.

CONCLUSION

The MiR-200 family has high diagnostic accuracy and can be used as an important biomarker to prognosticate breast cancer.

Biological Role and Clinical Implications of microRNAs in BRCA Mutation Carriers

Women with pathogenic germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have an increased risk to develop breast and ovarian cancer. There is, however, a high interpersonal variability in the modality and timing of tumor onset in those subjects, thus suggesting a potential role of other individual’s genetic, epigenetic, and environmental risk factors in modulating the penetrance of BRCA mutations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that can modulate the expression of several genes involved in cancer initiation and progression. MiRNAs are dysregulated at all stages of breast cancer and although they are accessible and evaluable, a standardized method for miRNA assessment is needed to ensure comparable data analysis and accuracy of results. The aim of this review was to highlight the role of miRNAs as potential biological markers for BRCA mutation carriers. In particular, biological and clinical implications of a link between lifestyle and nutritional modifiable factors, miRNA expression and germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are discussed with the knowledge of the best available scientific evidence.

microRNA-mRNA network model in patients with achalasia

BACKGROUND

Achalasia is a rare idiopathic disease with a complex etio-pathogenesis still unknown. This study aimed to identify microRNA (miRNA)-mRNA regulatory networks underlying achalasia.

METHODS

The investigation was performed in tissue specimens from 11 patients and five controls using the microarray technology followed by an integrated bioinformatics analysis.

KEY RESULTS

One hundred and six miRNAs were significantly up-regulated and 64 were down-regulated in achalasia patients. The expression of the most 10 differential expressed miRNAs (miR-122-5p, miR-133a-3p, miR-504-5p, miR-187-3p, miR-133b, miR-200c-3p, miR-375, miR-200b-5p, miR-200b-3p, and miR203a) was confirmed by droplet digital PCR in an independent cohort. The interactions between the significant miRNAs and their targets uncovered 14 miRNA-mRNA interacting pairs with experimentally predicted genes (ie, FN1, ROCK2, DPYSL2), and 35 pairs with not experimentally target genes (ie, SULF1, MRVI1, PRKG1); all genes were involved in immune cell trafficking, skeletal and muscular system development, nervous system development macro-processes.

CONCLUSION & INFERENCES

The mRNA-miRNA regulatory networks described in this study provide new insights in the genetic background of the disease, suggesting further investigations in novel pathogenic mechanisms.

All-trans retinoic acid reverses malignant biological behavior of hepatocarcinoma cells by regulating miR-200 family members

As a potential chemo-therapeutic agent, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can significantly reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of hepal-6 hepatocarcinoma cell line in vitro, but the mechanism is unclear. The expression profile of microRNA-200 (miR-200) families is different in hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we found that ATRA treatment could up-regulate the expression of miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p, and 141-3p, which were involved in ATRA regulated proliferation and apoptosis of hepal-6 cell, but not colony formation. Meanwhile, miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p, and 141-3p could recovery ATRA inhibited migration and invasion abilities of hepal-6 cells at various levels. miR-200a-3p and 200c-3p prevented ATRA from inducing the differentiation and hepatic functions of hepal-6 cells. Antagomir specific for miR-200a-3p and 200c-3p down-regulated the expression of CK18, but only miR-200a-3p antagomir played prominent role in regulating the expression of these mesenchymal markers, N-Cadherin, Snail and Twist. The transcriptional activities of 8 transcription factors were up-regulated and 35 transcription factors were down-regulated by ATRA. Compared with ATRA group, inhibition of miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p, and 141-3p significantly strengthened the expression of Fra1/Jun (AP1), Ets1/PEA3, Brn3, and Zeb1/AREB6 at varying degrees. Therefore, this result suggested that ATRA may suppress EMT through down-regulating miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p and 141-3p related transcription factors. miR-200 and their downstream genes might be the potentially specific targets for the treatment of hepatocarcinoma.

Hybridization conditions of oligonucleotide-capped gold nanoparticles for SPR sensing of microRNA

MicroRNA (miRNA) sensing, especially the miRNA-200 family, is increasingly targeted for cancer diagnostics. As the sensing schemes often rely on nanoparticles functionalized with a specific oligonucleotide, we investigate the hydribization conditions using the common case of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing of miRNA and a gold nanoparticle (Au NP) competitor. In this type of assays, the Au NPs compete with the microRNA to bind the capture probe immobilized on the gold surface. In our study, we simplify and improve the detection procedure by adopting 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) as linker to the gold surface, not only omitting the blocking step of 6-mercapto-1-hexanol (MCH), but also increasing the probe density. We report that the response in our SPR sensing studies increased with the size of Au NPs according to the plasmon ruler equation, but the larger AuNPs of 32 nm lacked colloidal stability. In addition, decreasing the ratio of oligonucleotide to Au NPs and the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to hybridization buffer also favored a better response in SPR sensing of miRNA. The optimization led to an improved detection sensitivity in our competition method and a detection limit as low as 500 pM for miRNA-200b without amplification of miRNA and use of other amplification schemes.

miR-429 suppresses tumor migration and invasion by targeting CRKL in hepatocellular carcinoma via inhibiting Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Tumor metastasis is one of the main causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) high mortality. CRKL (v-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene homologue (avian)-like) play important roles in tumor metastasis, however, the exact role and underlying mechanism of CRKL in HCC is still unknown. In our study, we demonstrated miR-429 negatively regulated CRKL expression via selectively binding to CRKL-3'-UTR at 3728-3735 bp site by post-transcriptionally mediating its functionality. Re-expression and silencing of miR-429 was remarkably effective in suppressing and promoting HepG2 cell migration and invasion in vitro. Knockdown or overexpression of CRKL exhibited similar effects as the overexpression or silencing of miR-429, whereas, CRKL overexpression (without the 3'-UTR) abrogated miR-429-induced inhibition on HepG2 migration and invasion. Moreover, miR-429-CRKL axis affected HepG2 migration and invasion potentials by regulating the adhesion ability, cytoskeleton F-actin expression and arrangement of HepG2. Furthermore, interference of Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and EMT contributed to miR-429-CRKL axis mediated metastasis inhibition. Nevertheless, miR-429 could not inhibit HepG2 proliferation through CRKL/c-Jun pathway. Taken together, our data demonstrated that miR-429 might function as an antimetastatic miRNA to regulate HCC metastasis by directly targeting CRKL via modulating Raf/MEK/ERK-EMT pathway. The newly identified miR-429-CRKL axis represents a novel potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

MicroRNA‑336 directly targets Sox‑2 in osteosarcoma to inhibit tumorigenesis

Previous evidence has suggested that microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs), which belong to a class of non‑coding RNAs, shape cellular processes by regulating gene expression. Abnormal expression of miRNAs has been associated with tumorigenesis in multiple cancers. However, the function of miR‑336 in osteosarcoma (OS) remains unknown. The experimental procedures used in the present study included flow cytometry, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction, luciferase reporter assay, invasion assay, western blot analysis and in vivo implantation. The results of the present study demonstrated that miR‑336 may serve as a tumor suppressor in OS. Downregulation of miR‑336 was observed in human OS specimens as well as OS cell lines. In addition, a significant negative correlation between sex determining region Y‑box 2 (Sox‑2) expression and miR‑336 was demonstrated. miR‑336 was confirmed to target the 3'‑untranslated region of Sox‑2 to inhibit proliferation, migration and invasion of OS cells. Consistently, restoration of Sox‑2 expression counteracted the effect of miR‑336, and recovered the tumorigenic potential of OS cells. The present study established a novel association between miR‑336 and Sox‑2 in OS. This relationship between miR‑336 and Sox‑2 may lead to improved knowledge concerning OS progression and sheds light on potential novel therapeutic interventions for OS treatment.

MiR-375 and miR-200c as predictive biomarkers of islet isolation and transplantation in total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation

BACKGROUND

Total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) is a promising treatment for refractory chronic pancreatitis. Predictable biomarkers for the endocrine function after transplantation would be helpful in selecting patients for TPIAT. This study aims to identify novel biomarkers for predicting the outcome of islet isolation and transplantation in TPIAT patients.

METHODS

This paper studied microRNA of 31 TPIAT patients and 11 deceased donors from plasma samples before TPIAT. MiR-7, miR-200a, miR-200c, miR-320, and miR-375 were analyzed along with patient characteristics and the outcomes of islet isolation and transplantation via univariate and multivariate regression analysis.

RESULTS

MiR-375 before TPIAT showed a significant correlation with ∆C-peptide (r = -0.396, P = 0.03) and post-digestion islet count (r = -0.372, P = 0.04). And also miR-200c was significantly correlated with insulin requirement, C-peptide, and SUITO index at 1 year after transplantation. Moreover it was confirmed that miR-200c was a predictable factor of endocrine outcome in multi regression analysis (coefficient = -7.081, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that miR-375 and miR-200c could potentially serve as novel biomarkers in predicting the islet yield in islet isolation and the metabolic function after transplantation for chronic pancreatitis patients.