Expression of miR-129-5p and miR-433 in the serum of breast cancer patients and their relationship with clinicopathological features

Bioinformatic and experimental analyses of GATA3 and its regulatory miRNAs in breast Cancer

BACKGROUND

GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in the differentiation and function of luminal epithelial cells in the breast. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that modulate gene expression and their dysregulation has been implicated in cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of GATA3 and its corresponding targeting miRNAs in breast cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, we used bioinformatic tools, including the miRWalk database and RNA Hybrid online tool, to identify potential miRNAs that target the GATA3 mRNA. Then, we collected frozen tissue specimens from 67 breast cancer patients and 67 adjacent normal breast tissue samples and evaluated the expression levels of GATA3, hsa-miR-433-3p, and hsa-miR-144-3p using quantitative RT-PCR.

RESULTS

We found that hsa-miR-433-3p and hsa-miR-144-3p are potential miRNAs that target the GATA3 mRNA, and we found that both were significantly downregulated in breast cancer tissues relative to adjacent normal breast tissues (P < 0.0001). We also observed a significant upregulation of the GATA3 mRNA in breast cancer tissues (P < 0.0001). Additionally, we found that their dysregulation was associated with clinicopathological features such as invasive carcinoma and carcinoma in situ subtypes, tumor grade, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status, and HER2 status.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study represents the first attempt to investigate the expression of GATA3 and its targeting miRNAs simultaneously in breast cancer. Our findings suggest that dysregulation of these genes may contribute to breast cancer development and progression.

The role of MiRNA ‐433 in malignant tumors of digestive tract as tumor suppressor

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non‐coding RNAs with a length of approximate 22 nuclei acids that can be expressed both as an oncogene and tumor suppressor gene in human cancers. MiRNAs can participate in the post‐ transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and regulate the several cancer‐related processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, etc.

Recent findings

Expression of miRNA‐433 has been reported to vary in different tumors and affected by various factors. We have summarized the different previous studies and found that miRNA‐433 can significantly inhibit the growth of the cancer cells not only in malignant tumors of the digestive tract, but also in lung cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, renal carcinoma, glioma, retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma.

Conclusion

When the expression of miRNA‐433 was up‐regulated, the proliferation, metastasis and invasion abilities of the malignant tumor cells were significantly inhibited. At the same time, the potential mechanisms through which miRNA‐433 can suppress the growth and metastasis of the cancer cells were found to be basically the same, and involved modulation of the specific signaling pathways or target genes in the malignant tumors. Overall, it can be concluded that miRNA‐433 can serve as potential and valuable therapeutic target.

Role of microRNA-129 in cancer and non-cancerous diseases (Review)

An increasing number of studies indicate that microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are involved in diverse biological signaling pathways and play important roles in the progression of various diseases, including both oncological and non-oncological diseases. These small non-coding RNAs can block translation, resulting in a low expression level of target genes. miR-129 is an miRNA that has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. A growing body of evidence shows that the miR-129 family not only functions in cancer, including osteosarcoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and ovarian, prostate, lung, breast and colon cancer, but also in non-cancerous diseases, including heart failure (HF), epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease (AD), obesity, diabetes and intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). It is therefore necessary to summarize current research progress on the role of miR-129 in different diseases. The present review includes an updated summary of the mechanisms of the miR-129 family in oncological and non-oncological diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review focusing on the role of miR-129 in non-cancerous diseases such as obesity, HF, epilepsy, diabetes, IVDD and AD.