Identification of the miRNA signature and key genes in colorectal cancer lymph node metastasis

作者：Xi Wang, Guangyu Gao, Zhengrong Chen, Zhihao Chen, Mingxiao Han, Xiaolu Xie, Qiyuan Jin, Hong Du, Zhifei Cao, Haifang Zhang · 发表于：Cancer Cell International · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1186/s12935-021-02058-9 · 被引用次数：36 · 研究领域：MicroRNA in disease regulation、Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research、Circular RNAs in diseases

BACKGROUND: Because its metastasis to the lymph nodes are closely related to poor prognosis, miRNAs and mRNAs can serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to identify novel gene signatures in the lymph node metastasis of CRC. METHODS: GSE56350, GSE70574, and GSE95109 datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, while data from 569 colorectal cancer cases were also downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were calculated using R programming language (Version 3.6.3), while gene ontology and enrichment analysis of target mRNAs were performed using FunRich ( http://www.funrich.org ). Furthermore, the mRNA-miRNA network was constructed using Cytoscape software (Version 3.8.0). Gene expression levels were verified using the GEO datasets. Similarly, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to examine expression profiles from 20 paired non-metastatic and metastatic lymph node tissue samples obtained from patients with CRC. RESULTS: In total, five DE-miRNAs were selected, and 34 mRNAs were identified after filtering the results. Moreover, two key miRNAs (hsa-miR-99a, hsa-miR-100) and one gene (heparan sulfate-glucosamine 3-sulfotransferase 2 [HS3ST2]) were identified. The GEO datasets analysis and qPCR results showed that the expression of key miRNA and genes were consistent with that obtained from the bioinformatic analysis. A no...