The Role of Significantly Deregulated MicroRNAs in Recurrent Cervical Cancer Based on Bioinformatic Analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas Data.

Abstract

To screen for differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) between recurrent and primary cervical cancer patient samples, and investigate the prognostic value of the identified miRNAs, based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Differentially expressed miRNAs between recurrent and primary cervical cancer, identified from TCGA database, were selected by edgeR package in the R software. Overlapping target genes predicted by TargetScan, miRTarBase, and miRDB online analysis tools were chosen for Gene Ontology (GO) classification and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Furthermore, the prognostic value of each miRNA was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves. Nineteen differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, including 14 upregulated and 5 downregulated miRNAs, in recurrent cervical cancer. One hundred and sixteen target genes were predicted by the three prediction tools. GO analysis showed 19 significant categories, including "metal ion binding," "vasculogenesis," and "cytosol component." KEGG analysis identified 54 significant biological pathways, such as "proteoglycans in cancer signaling pathway" and "HTLV-I infection signaling pathway." Three miRNAs were significantly associated with the prognosis of cervical cancer, namely, miR-150 (p = 0.012), miR-204 (p = 0.032), and miR-194-1 (p = 0.042), and high expression of each showed prolonged overall survival. miRNAs differentially expressed between primary and recurrent cervical cancer, such as miR-150, miR-204, and miR-194-1, were identified. Our findings might help clarify molecular mechanisms underlying recurrence, and offer potential specific targets for recurrent cervical cancer treatment.