miRNA Sequence Analysis in Patients With Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the non-coding RNAs that can both attach to the untranslated and coding sections of target mRNAs, triggering destruction or post-transcriptional alteration. miRNAs regulate various cellular processes such as immune function, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis. About 35,000 miRNAs have been discovered in the human genome. The increasing evidence suggests that the dysregulation of human miRNAs may have a role in the etiology of some disorders including cancer. Only a small sub-set of human miRNAs has functionally been validated in the pathogenesis of oncogenic viruses such as Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). KSHV is the cause of various human malignancies including primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), which are mainly seen in AIDS patients or other immunocompromised people. We aimed to identify the miRNAs in Kaposi’s sarcoma cases, with the comparison of KSHV seropositive and seronegative tumors with the controls and in each other in Turkish Kaposi’s sarcoma patients. We performed the miRNA-sequencing at genome level in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 16 Kaposi’s sarcoma patients, and in 8 healthy controls matched for age, gender, and ethnicity. A total of 642 miRNA molecules with different expression profiles were identified between the patients and the healthy controls. Currently, out of 642 miRNAs, 7 miRNAs (miR-92b-3p, miR-490-3p, miR-615-3p, miR-629-5p, miR-1908, miR-3180, miR-4433b-3p) which have not been described in the literature in the context of Kaposi’s sarcoma were addressed in the study for the first time and 9 novel miRNAs, not found previously in the database, have been detected in Kaposi’s sarcoma using the miRNA-sequencing technique. This study demonstrates the identification of differently expressed miRNAs which might be the new therapeutic targets for Kaposi’s sarcoma, that has limited treatment options and can be used in the etiology, diagnosis, and prognosis of this cancer.

Investigation of key miRNAs and Target-mRNA in Kaposi's sarcoma using bioinformatic methods

“…Highly expressed miRNAs may act as oncogenes by suppressing tumor suppressor genes, while miRNAs expressed at low levels may function as tumor suppressors by negatively regulating oncogenes [ 6 ]. Recent studies have described miRNA signatures in KS, with several miRNAs found to be downregulated or upregulated [ 7 , 8 ] as a mediator in the virus-host interaction network of KS [ 9 ]. These miRNAs have the potential to serve as biomarkers for KS diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and as targets for treatment.…”

Aberrant miR-3135b and miR-1273g-3p expression in the peripheral blood samples of BRCA1/2 (±) ovarian cancer patients

“…MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are compact RNA molecules, typically around 22 nucleotides in length, which act as antisense RNA to suppress the post-transcriptional expression of target genes [ 4 ]. Dysregulation of miRNAs causes several human diseases, including OC [ 5 ].…”