miRNA expression in anaplastic thyroid carcinomas

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 25;9(8):e103871. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103871. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the most lethal form of thyroid neoplasia and represents an end stage of thyroid tumor progression. No effective treatment exists so far. In this study, we analyzed the miRNA expression profiles of 11 ATC by microarrays and their relationship with the mRNA expression profiles of the same 11 ATC samples. ATC show distinct miRNA expression profiles compared to other less aggressive thyroid tumor types. ATC show 18 commonly deregulated miRNA compared to normal thyroid tissue (17 downregulated and 1 upregulated miRNA). First, the analysis of a combined approach of the mRNA gene expression and of the bioinformatically predicted mRNA targets of the deregulated miRNA suggested a role for these regulations in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in ATC. Second, the direct interaction between one of the upregulated mRNA target, the LOX gene which is an EMT key player, and a downregulated miRNA, the miR-29a, was experimentally validated by a luciferase assay in HEK cell. Third, we confirmed that the ATC tissue is composed of about 50% of tumor associated macrophages (TAM) and suggested, by taking into account our data and published data, their most likely direct or paracrine intercommunication between them and the thyroid tumor cells, amplifying the tumor aggressiveness. Finally, we demonstrated by in situ hybridization a specific thyrocyte localization of 3 of the deregulated miRNA: let-7g, miR-29a and miR-30e and we pointed out the importance of identifying the cell type localization before drawing any conclusion on the physiopathological role of a given gene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Computational Biology
  • DNA Mutational Analysis
  • Down-Regulation
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic / genetics*
  • Thyroid Gland / metabolism
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MIRN29a microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Welbio, Télévie, European Union (GENRISK-T project 036495), Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Médicale, Fondation Van Buren, Les amis de l'Institut Bordet, Fondation Contre le Cancer, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). ATC tissue samples from Lille were obtained from the tumour cell and tissue bank of Regional Reference Cancer Center of Lille “Tumorothèque du centre régional de Référence en Cancérologie” (France). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.