miR-22-3p and miR-30e-5p Are Associated with Prognosis in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2022-05, Vol.23 (10), p.5623
• Main Authors: Kwon, Ah-Young, Jeong, Ju-Yeon, Park, Hyun, Hwang, Sohyun, Kim, Gwangil, Kang, Haeyoun, Heo, Jin-Hyung, Lee, Hye Jin, Kim, Tae-Heon, An, Hee Jung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomarkers; Bone Neoplasms - genetics; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - genetics; Cervical cancer; Epigenetics; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Infections; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Medical prognosis; Medical screening; Metastases; Metastasis; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; miR-22-3p; miR-30e-5p; miRNA; Squamous cell carcinoma; Survival; Survival analysis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - genetics; uterine cervix; Womens health
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105623

Alteration in expression of miRNAs can cause various malignant changes and the metastatic process. Our aim was to identify the miRNAs involved in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and metastasis, and to test their utility as indicators of metastasis and survival. Using microarray technology, we performed miRNA expression profiling on primary cervical SqCC tissue (n = 6) compared with normal control (NC) tissue and compared SqCC that had (SqC-M; n = 3) and had not (SqC-NM; n = 3) metastasized. Four miRNAs were selected for validation by qRT-PCR on 29 SqC-NM and 27 SqC-M samples, and nine metastatic lesions (ML-SqC), from a total of 56 patients. Correlation of miRNA expression and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed to evaluate the clinical impact of candidate miRNAs. We found 40 miRNAs differentially altered in cervical SqCC tissue: 21 miRNAs were upregulated and 19 were downregulated (≥2-fold, p < 0.05). Eight were differentially altered in SqC-M compared with SqC-NM samples: four were upregulated (miR-494, miR-92a-3p, miR-205-5p, and miR-221-3p), and four were downregulated (miR-574-3p, miR-4769-3p, miR-1281, and miR-1825) (≥1.5-fold, p < 0.05). MiR-22-3p might be a metastamiR, which was gradually further downregulated in SqC-NM > SqC-M > ML-SqC. Downregulation of miR-30e-5p significantly correlated with high stage, lymph node metastasis, and low survival rate, suggesting an independent poor prognostic factor.