Integrated microRNA and mRNA signatures associated with overall survival in epithelial ovarian cancer

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 28;16(7):e0255142. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255142. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer (OC), the eighth-leading cause of cancer-related death among females worldwide, is mainly represented by epithelial OC (EOC) that can be further subdivided into four subtypes: serous (75%), endometrioid (10%), clear cell (10%), and mucinous (3%). Major reasons for high mortality are the poor biological understanding of the OC mechanisms and a lack of reliable markers defining each EOC subtype. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression primarily by targeting messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts. Their aberrant expression patterns have been associated with cancer development, including OC. However, the role of miRNAs in tumorigenesis is still to be determined, mainly due to the lack of consensus regarding optimal methodologies for identification and validation of miRNAs and their targets. Several tools for computational target prediction exist, but false interpretations remain a problem. The experimental validation of every potential miRNA-mRNA pair is not feasible, as it is laborious and expensive. In this study, we analyzed the correlation between global miRNA and mRNA expression patterns derived from microarray profiling of 197 EOC patients to identify the signatures of miRNA-mRNA interactions associated with overall survival (OS). The aim was to investigate whether these miRNA-mRNA signatures might have a prognostic value for OS in different subtypes of EOC. The content of our cohort (162 serous carcinomas, 15 endometrioid carcinomas, 11 mucinous carcinomas, and 9 clear cell carcinomas) reflects a real-world scenario of EOC. Several interaction pairs between 6 miRNAs (hsa-miR-126-3p, hsa-miR-223-3p, hsa-miR-23a-5p, hsa-miR-27a-5p, hsa-miR-486-5p, and hsa-miR-506-3p) and 8 mRNAs (ATF3, CH25H, EMP1, HBB, HBEGF, NAMPT, POSTN, and PROCR) were identified and the findings appear to be well supported by the literature. This indicates that our study has a potential to reveal miRNA-mRNA signatures relevant for EOC. Thus, the evaluation on independent cohorts will further evaluate the performance of such findings.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell / genetics
  • Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell / mortality
  • Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / genetics
  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / mortality
  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / pathology
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / pathology
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Female
  • Gene Regulatory Networks / genetics
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • Middle Aged
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / mortality
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism*
  • Survival Rate

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger

Grants and funding

This work was supported by: Herlev Hospital Research Council, URL: https://www.herlevhospital.dk/forskning/kontakt/Sider/Forskningsr%C3%A5d.aspx (EH received the funding), the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The Mermaid Foundation, URL: http://www.mermaidprojektet.dk/ (JLJ, CH and EH received the funding), the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript; Danish Cancer Research Foundation: URL:http://www.dansk-kraeftforsknings-fond.dk/ (EH received the funding), the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.