miR-146a Polymorphism (rs2910164) Predicts Colorectal Cancer Patients' Susceptibility to Liver Metastasis

PLoS One. 2016 Nov 8;11(11):e0165912. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165912. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

miR-146a plays important roles in cancer as it directly targets NUMB, an inhibitor of Notch signaling. miR-146a is reportedly regulated by a G>C polymorphism (SNP; rs2910164). This polymorphism affects various cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the clinical significance of miR-146a polymorphism in CRC remains unclear. A total of 59 patients with CRC were divided into 2 groups: a CC/CG genotype (n = 32) and a GG genotype (n = 27), based on the miR-146a polymorphism. cDNA microarray analysis was performed using 59 clinical samples. Significantly enriched gene sets in each genotype were extracted using GSEA. We also investigated the association between miR-146a polymorphism and miR-146a, NUMB expression or migratory response in CRC cell lines. The CC/CG genotype was associated with significantly more synchronous liver metastasis (p = 0.007). A heat map of the two genotypes showed that the expression profiles were clearly stratified. GSEA indicated that Notch signaling and JAK/STAT3 signaling were significantly associated with the CC/CG genotype (p = 0.004 and p = 0.023, respectively). CRC cell lines with the pre-miR-146a/C revealed significantly higher miR-146a expression (p = 0.034) and higher NUMB expression and chemotactic activity. In CRC, miR-146a polymorphism is involved in liver metastasis. Identification of this polymorphism could be useful to identify patients with a high risk of liver metastasis in CRC.

MeSH terms

  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Immunoblotting
  • Liver Neoplasms / genetics
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / physiology
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* / genetics
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • MIRN146 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of MEXT (26461980, 15H04921, 15K10168, 15K10170) (https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-grants/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.