Comprehensive expression analysis of miRNA in breast cancer at the miRNA and isomiR levels

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the main factor that leads cause of cancer death in women worldwide. A class of small non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), has been widely studied in human cancers as crucial regulatory molecule. Recent studies indicate that a series of isomiRs can be yielded from a miRNA locus, and these physiological miRNA isoforms have versatile roles in miRNA biogenesis. Herein, we performed a comprehensive analysis of miRNAs at the miRNA and isomiR levels in BC using next-generation sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Abnormally expressed miRNA (miR-21, miR-221, miR-155, miR-30e and miR-25) and isomiR profiles could be obtained at the miRNA and isomiR levels, and similar biological roles could be detected. IsomiR expression profiles should be further concerned, and especially isomiRs are actual regulatory molecules in the miRNA–mRNA regulatory networks. The study provides a comprehensive expression analysis at the miRNA and isomiR levels in BC, which indicates biological roles of isomiRs.