The clinical significance of serum miRNA-224 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Aim of the study: Micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNA) are small single stranded RNA molecules. They act as key regulators of several cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, tumor differentiation, invasion and metastasis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the most common primary liver cancer. miRNA-224 is an oncomiR that is highly upregulated in HCC tissues. The aim of the present study was to measure the relative expression of circulating miRNA-224 in the serum of patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis and HCC and to assess its usefulness in the diagnosis of HCC. Material and methods: Forty-eight patients were classified into two groups: 24 HCV-related HCC patients (HCC group), and 24 HCV-related liver cirrhosis patients (LC group). A third group included 24 healthy volunteers (control group). Clinical examination, imaging studies and routine laboratory investigations, including serum α-fetoprotein (AFP), were done. Quantification of serum miRNA-224 expression was performed using real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: The relative expression of serum miRNA-224 was significantly higher in HCC patients compared to LC patients and healthy control subjects. Its level correlated positively with the serum concentration of AFP and with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage of HCC. By combining miRNA-224 relative expression with AFP, their diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy increased significantly (95.0%, 92.1% and 93.2%, respectively) compared with either of the two markers alone in discriminating HCC from liver cirrhosis. Conclusions: Serum miRNA-224 relative expression may aid in the diagnosis of HCC. Better diagnostic performance is obtained if miRNA-224 is combined with other tumor markers such as AFP.

The Relevance of MicroRNAs in the Pathogenesis and Prognosis of HCV-Disease: The Emergent Role of miR-17-92 in Cryoglobulinemic Vasculitis

“…MiR-301 levels were significantly linked with tumor size and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) [46]. In a similar way, a combination of miR-224 with AFP shows sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 95.0%, 92.1%, and 93.2%, respectively in discriminating HCC from LC [47].…”

Inhibitory Effect of Polyphyllin D on Proliferation of Human Colon Cancer Cell Line SW480 via the MicroRNA-21/Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog Deleted on Chromosome 10

“…MiRNAs are involved in almost all biological processes, which regulate not only the function and behavior of normal cells, but also the biological behavior of tumor cells throughout the process of tumor formation, including proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, apoptosis, drug resistance, metastasis and invasion [17] . Therefore, miRNAs have close correlations with the occurrence and development of cancers.…”

NIR-to-Vis Handheld Platforms for Detecting miRNA Level and Mutation Based on Sub-10 nm Sulfide Nanodots and HCR Amplification

“…31,32 In this work, miR-224 relating to multiple cancers was selected as the target analyte. 33,34 MiR-224 in samples induced the ligation reaction of DNA probes and subsequently triggered HCR amplification. The ASND-tagged probes hybridized through HCR and then assembled on the surface of the diagnosis kits; NIR-excited fluorescent signals with three different wavelengths (red, green, and blue, RGB) were read out using a smartphone-based platform and simultaneously showed proportionality to the miR-224 concentrations.…”

“…To better amplify the signal, we designed a fluorescent platform for miRNA detection based on the tricolor ASND tagging and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) amplification. HCR is an initiator strand-triggered self-assembly and enzyme-free process that can achieve highly sensitive detection of initiator strands. , In this work, miR-224 relating to multiple cancers was selected as the target analyte. , MiR-224 in samples induced the ligation reaction of DNA probes and subsequently triggered HCR amplification. The ASND-tagged probes hybridized through HCR and then assembled on the surface of the diagnosis kits; NIR-excited fluorescent signals with three different wavelengths (red, green, and blue, RGB) were read out using a smartphone-based platform and simultaneously showed proportionality to the miR-224 concentrations.…”