Combined microRNA-340 and ROCK1 mRNA profiling predicts tumor progression and prognosis in pediatric osteosarcoma

Int J Mol Sci. 2014 Jan 6;15(1):560-73. doi: 10.3390/ijms15010560.

Abstract

To investigate the association of combined microRNA-340 (miR-340) and ROCK1 mRNA profiling with clinicopathologic features and prognosis in pediatric patients with osteosarcoma. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to detect expression levels of miR-340 and ROCK1 mRNA in cancerous and noncancerous bone tissues from 92 children treated for primary osteosarcomas. Compared with noncancerous bone tissues, the expression levels of miR-340 and ROCK1 mRNA were, respectively, downregulated and upregulated in osteosarcoma tissues (both p < 0.001), which was consistent with the results of in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry analysis. The downregulation of miR-340 was negatively correlated with the upregulation of ROCK1 mRNA in osteosarcoma tissues (r = -0.78, p = 0.001). In addition, the combined miR-340 downregulation and ROCK1 upregulation (miR-340-low/ROCK1-high) occurred more frequently in osteosarcoma tissues with positive metastasis (p < 0.001) and poor response to pre-operative chemotherapy (p = 0.002). Moreover, miR-340-low/ROCK1-high expression was significantly associated with both shortest overall survival (p < 0.001) and progression-free survival (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis further confirmed that miR-340-low/ROCK1-high expression was an independent prognostic factor of unfavorable survival in pediatric osteosarcoma (for overall survival: p = 0.006, for progression-free survival: p = 0.008). Our data offer convincing evidence, for the first time, that the combined miR-340 downregulation and ROCK1 upregulation may be linked to tumor progression and adverse prognosis in pediatric osteosarcoma.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Bone Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Bone Neoplasms / genetics
  • Bone Neoplasms / mortality
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Disease Progression
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Down-Regulation
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • Osteosarcoma / diagnosis
  • Osteosarcoma / genetics
  • Osteosarcoma / mortality
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism*
  • Up-Regulation
  • Young Adult
  • rho-Associated Kinases / genetics*
  • rho-Associated Kinases / metabolism

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MIRN340 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger
  • ROCK1 protein, human
  • rho-Associated Kinases