Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that are critical regulators of various diseases. MicroRNA- 20a (miR-20a) and microRNA-203 (miR-203) have previously shown significant alteration in a range of cancers. In this study, the expression levels of miR-20a and miR-203 in 100 cervical cancer tissues were detected by qRT-PCR and compared to patient matched-nontumor cervical tissues. Correlations between expression level and clinicopathologic characteristics of cervical cancer were also analyzed. Finally, we studied the effect of miR- 20a and miR-203 on cell proliferation in cervical cancer cell lines by MTT. We found that the expression level of miR-20a (P<0.001) was significantly higher in cervical cancer patients than in healthy controls, while that of miR-203 (P<0.001) was lower. Aberrant expression of miR-20a was correlated with lymph node metastasis (LNM), histological grade and tumor diameter, but down-regulated miR-203 was correlated with LNM only. Furthermore, we found that over-expression of miR-203 decreased cell proliferation, while reduction of miR- 20a also prevented tumor progression. Our results support the involvement of miR-20a and miR-203 in cervical tumorigenesis. We propose that miRNAs might be used as therapeutic agents for cervical cancer.
Highlights
Cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women all over the world (Jemal et al, 2011), which is a leading cause of cancer death, resulting in about 300,000 deaths each year
We found that the expression level of miR-20a (P
Altered miRNA expression profiles have been reported in cervical cancer as compared with normal cervix (Lee et al, 2008; Hu et al, 2010). miRNAs are different in diverse tumors, research on miRNAs expression profile will contribute to the classification of tumors
Summary
Cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women all over the world (Jemal et al, 2011), which is a leading cause of cancer death, resulting in about 300,000 deaths each year. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides (nt) and act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. These small molecules have been found to regulate genes involved in diverse biological processes such as cell proliferation, development, differentiation, apoptosis and others (Lagos-Quintana et al, 2001; Lee et al, 2001). Numerous of studies have shown that alterations in miRNAs synthesis in human cancers are often related to tumor development, progression and metastasis. Altered miRNA expression profiles have been reported in cervical cancer as compared with normal cervix (Lee et al, 2008; Hu et al, 2010). MiRNAs are different in diverse tumors, research on miRNAs expression profile will contribute to the classification of tumors. To inhibit the oncogene-like miRNAs or to over-express the anti-tumor miRNAs will be a novel method on tumor therapy
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