Over-expression of miR-10b in NPC patients: correlation with LMP1 and Twist1

Tumour Biol. 2015 May;36(5):3807-14. doi: 10.1007/s13277-014-3022-6. Epub 2015 Jan 20.

Abstract

Aberrant expression of miR-10b has been described in many cancers but remains unexplored in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Therefore, we aimed to study the miR-10b expression level in 43 NPC biopsies collected from Tunisian patients and three NPC xenografts. Then, we investigated the correlation between miR-10b expression and its upstream regulators LMP1/Twist1 as well as its adjacent gene HoxD4. We showed that miR-10b was significantly up-regulated in NPC biopsies compared to non-tumor nasopharyngeal tissues (fold change 153; p = 0.004) and associated with advanced clinical stage and young age at diagnosis (p = 0.005 and p = 0.011, respectively). In addition, over-expression of miR-10b was positively associated with the transcription factor Twist1 as well as the EBV oncoprotein LMP1 (fold change 6.32; p = 0.014, fold change 6.58; p = 0.01 respectively). Furthermore, higher level of miR-10b was observed in tumors with simultaneous expression of LMP1 and Twist1, compared to those expressing only Twist1 (fold change 2.49; p = 0.033). Meanwhile, the analysis of the link between miR-10b and its neighbor gene HoxD4 did not show any significant correlation (Fisher test p = 0.205; Mann-Whitney test p = 0.676). This study reports the first evidence of miR-10b over-expression in NPC patients. Furthermore, our findings can support hsa-miR-10b gene regulation through LMP1/Twist1 in NPC malignancy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Carcinoma
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Mice
  • MicroRNAs / biosynthesis*
  • Middle Aged
  • Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / virology
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Nuclear Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Twist-Related Protein 1 / biosynthesis*
  • Viral Matrix Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus
  • MIRN10 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • TWIST1 protein, human
  • Twist-Related Protein 1
  • Viral Matrix Proteins