A miRNA signature for defining aggressive phenotype and prognosis in gliomas

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 3;9(10):e108950. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108950. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Gliomas represent a disparate group of tumours for which there are to date no cure. Thus, there is a recognized need for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches based on increased understanding of their molecular nature. We performed the comparison of the microRNA (miRNA) profile of 8 WHO grade II gliomas and 24 higher grade tumours (2 WHO grade III and 22 glioblastomas) by using the Affymetrix GeneChip miRNA Array v. 1.0. A relative quantification method (RT-qPCR) with standard curve was used to confirm the 22 miRNA signature resulted by array analysis. The prognostic performances of the confirmed miRNAs were estimated on the Tumor Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. We identified 22 miRNAs distinguishing grade II gliomas from higher grade tumours. RT-qPCR confirmed the differential expression in the two patients' groups for 13 out of the 22 miRNAs. The analysis of the Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) and Lower Grade Glioma (LGG) datasets from TCGA demonstrated the association with prognosis for 6 of those miRNAs. Moreover, in the GBM dataset miR-21 and miR-210 were predictors of worse prognosis in both univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses (HR 1.19, p = 0.04, and HR 1.18, p = 0.029 respectively). Our results support a direct contribution of miRNAs to glioma cancerogenesis and suggest that miR-21 and miR-210 may play a role in the aggressive clinical behaviour of glioblastomas.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Glioma / genetics*
  • Glioma / metabolism
  • Glioma / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / genetics*
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
  • Phenotype
  • Prognosis

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

Ricerca Corrente 2013 funding was granted by the Italian Ministry of Health. This work was also supported by “5×1000” voluntary contributions, “Progetto Operativo Nazionale,” PON 2011-2014 VIRTUALAB (PON01_01297). S.V. is supported by Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC – IG13585) and Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale (PRIN 2010) and The National Council of Research of Italy CNR EPIGEN grants. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.