Expressions of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus type 8-associated microRNAs k12-1 and k12-12 in Kaposi's sarcoma and their significance

Abstract

Objective To measure the expressions of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus type 8 associated-microRNAs k12-1 (kshv-miR-k12-1) and k12-12 (kshv-miR-k12-12) in Kaposi's sarcoma tissue, and to assess their relationship with pathological stage and lesion area of Kaposi's sarcoma, HIV infection, and human herpesvirus type 8 (HPV-8) infection. Methods Totally, 18 paired tissue specimens stored in liquid nitrogen from Kaposi's sarcoma lesions and paralesional skin were collected. Total RNAs were extracted from these specimens by using Trizol reagent, and reversely transcribed into cDNA. SYBR Green real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to measure the expressions of kshv-miR-k12-1 and kshv-miR-k12-12 in these specimens. The relationship of kshv-miR-k12-1 and kshv-miR-k12-12 expressions with the pathological stage and lesion area of Kaposi's sarcoma, HIV and HPV-8 infections was analyzed. Results Compared with paralesional normal skin, Kaposi's sarcoma lesions showed significantly increased expressions of kshv-miR-k12-1 (2-ΔΔCt: 1.016 ± 1.645 vs. 0.029 ± 0.019, t= 2.542, P= 0.016) and kshv-miR-k12-12 (2-ΔΔCt: 2.104 ± 1.973 vs. 0.102 ± 0.093, t= 4.301, P= 0.000). There were no significant differences in the expressions of kshv-miR-k12-1 or kshv-miR-k12-12 between patients with HIV or HPV-8 infection and those without, among patients with different pathological stages of Kaposi's sarcoma, or among patients with different lesion areas (all P> 0.05). Conclusion Both kshv-miR-k12-1 and kshv-miR-k12-12 are highly expressed in Kaposi's sarcoma, but neither of their expressions is related to HIV or HPV-8 infection, pathological stage or lesion area of Kaposi's sarcoma. Key words: Sarcoma, Kaposi; Herpesvirus 8, human; kshv-miR-k12-1; kshv-miR-k12-12