The present study aimed to investigate the effects of microRNA (miRNA/miR)-497 expression levels on the expression levels of synuclein γ (SNCG) in serum samples, as well as osteosarcoma and lung-metastatic tissue samples, from patients with osteosarcoma. Between December 2010 and August 2013, fasting peripheral blood was collected from 36 patients with osteosarcoma for serum separation. In addition, osteosarcoma and lung metastatic tissues were resected from 15 osteosarcoma patients with lung metastasis by surgery. Bioinformatics was employed to predict the amount miRNA that binds to SNCG. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the expression levels of SNCG and miR-497, and western blotting was performed to determine protein expression levels. It was observed that SNCG mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma tissues (P<0.01). Additionally, SNCG mRNA (P<0.01) and protein (P<0.05) expression levels were significantly upregulated in the blood of patients with osteosarcoma. SNCG mRNA and protein expression levels were also significantly upregulated in lung metastatic tissues (P<0.01). miR-497 was significantly downregulated in all three samples; therefore downregulation of miR-497 may lead to the occurrence, development and metastasis of osteosarcoma through the upregulation of SNCG mRNA. In summary, the upregulation of SNCG in blood, osteosarcoma tissue and lung metastatic tissue samples is associated with the dowregulation of miR-497, suggesting that miR-497 may be a potential marker and therapeutic target for the treatment of osteosarcoma.
Keywords: lung metastasis; microRNA-497; osteosarcoma; synuclein γ.