Expression of miRNA 146a/b, 221 and 222 in Thyroid Cancer.

Jo, Young Suk; Lee, Ihn Suk; Hong, Woojeong; Song, In Sang; Shong, Minho; Kim, Je Ryoung

doi:2009.24.1.17

Endocrinol Metab > Volume 24(1); 2009 > Article

Original Article

Journal of Korean Endocrine Society 2009;24(1):17-24.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3803/jkes.2009.24.1.17 Published online March 1, 2009.

Expression of miRNA 146a/b, 221 and 222 in Thyroid Cancer.

Young Suk Jo, Ihn Suk Lee, Woojeong Hong, In Sang Song, Minho Shong, Je Ryoung Kim

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Korea.
²Department of Surgery, Chungnam National University Hospital, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
miRNAs can be diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets in cancers, but few studies have been conducted in thyroid cancer. We investigated the expression levels of miRNA 146a/b, 221, and 222 which are important miRNAs in papillary thyroid cancers (PTCa), and verified their impact on clinicopathological factors. METHODS: We measured the expression of pre-miRNAs 146a/b, 221, and 222 in NPA cells treated with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) or in HEK293T cells transfected with RET/PTC3 or BRAFV600E expression vectors. We also investigated the relationship between miRNA expression levels in thyroid cancer tissue specimens and clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Growth stimulation with 10% FBS induced miRNA expressions in NPA cells, and transfection of RET/PTC3 and BRAFV600E also increased the expression of these miRNAs in HEK293T cells. Most (25 cases; 50%) of PTCa showed increased expression of miRNA-146a/b and 30 cases (60%) had elevated expression of miRNA-221 and miRNA-222 compared to normal thyroid samples from the contralateral lobe. However, increased miRNA expression did not correlate with clinicopathological factors. CONCLUSION: Expression of miRNA 146a/b, 221, and 222 was increased by BRAFV600E and RET/PTC3 rearrangement and might have a role in tumorigenesis in PTCa. However, expression levels of these miRNAs did not correlate with clinicopathological parameters of patients with PTCa.

Key Words: microRNA, prognosis, thyroid neoplasm