BCL2, IRS1, AKT3, PTEN, and HIF1A expression levels in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Abstract

Background

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding molecules that play critical roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis, and they can target multiple genes at the mRNA level.

Materials and methods

Some online tools like TargetScan, miRDIP, miRmap, and miRanda were used to evaluate the validated target genes. Before choosing target genes, we took advantage of some bioinformatics tools including STRING, GeneMANIA, and TRED to predict the target genes. Finally, the expression levels of the target genes were measured in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor and their adjacent normal tissues via SYBR Green-based quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

Results

According to bioinformatics tools, BCL2 and AKT3 were selected as target genes for miR-15/16, and BCL2 was shown to demonstrate a robust negative correlation with miR-15a in our previous analysis of NSCLC tumor samples. Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between BCL2 expression level and stage Ⅲ (p = 0.04). PTEN was assumed as a validated target gene of miR-21 that presented a significant decrease in tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. IRS1 was assigned as a target gene of miR-126/miR-128, and finally, HIF1A was selected as the target gene of miR-210. There was a significant negative association between IRS1 expression level and miR-126/miR-128, but a positive correlation was demonstrated between miR-210 and HIF1A at mRNA level.

Conclusion

Restoration of miR-15/16, miR-126, and miR-128 in NSCLC might be therapeutic candidates to control cell proliferation and apoptosis.