Serum exosomal miR-210 as a noninvasive molecular diagnosis biomarker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of serum exosomal miRNAs, originating from tumor tissue cells, could be used as noninvasive biomarker for distinguishing clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods 30 pairs of tissue samples and the corresponding serum samples were collected from 20 ccRCC male patients and 10 female ccRCC patients, operated in our department from June 2015 to June 2016. Their age ranged from 45 to 70 years old, mean 57 years old. Based on the miRNA microarray analysis of ccRCCs miRNA expression profiles, we picked up four miRNAs, including miR-210, miR-224, miR-452, and miR-34a, to confirm our hypothesis. Then the expression quantity of these four miRNAs in tissues, serums and serum exosomes were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Sensitivity, specificity and area under curve (AUC) for serum miRNA levels were determined using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results Expression of miR-210, miR-224, and miR-452 were higher in tumor tissues compared to those in adjacent noncancerous tissues(P<0.05), increasing by 20.51-fold, 54.08-fold and 2.48-fold respectively. But only miR-210 was significantly higher in ccRCC patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) in serum and serum exosome (P<0.05), increasing by 2.45-fold and 2.32-fold respectively. ROC curve analysis indicated that the serum exosomal miR-210 level might serve as a useful biomarker for differentiating patients with ccRCC from those with HCs; the AUC was 0.8789 (95% CI 0.7803-0.9775) and the sensitivity and specificity was 92.1% and 80.0%, respectively. Conclusion The detection of miR-210 in the serum exosome is useful for early diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Key words: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma; Serum exosome; MicroRNA-210; Biomarker