Dose-dependent expression of extracellular microRNAs in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells exposed to high-dose-rate ionising radiation

Satoru Monzen; Tatsuya Ueno; Mitsuru Chiba; Yuki Morino; Yasushi Mariya; Andrzej Wojcik; Lovisa Lundholm

doi:10.3892/mco.2021.2452

Dose-dependent expression of extracellular microRNAs in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells exposed to high-dose-rate ionising radiation

Mol Clin Oncol. 2022 Jan;16(1):19. doi: 10.3892/mco.2021.2452. Epub 2021 Nov 23.

Authors

Satoru Monzen¹, Tatsuya Ueno², Mitsuru Chiba³, Yuki Morino¹, Yasushi Mariya⁴, Andrzej Wojcik^{5

6}, Lovisa Lundholm⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Science, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan.
² Department of Radiology, Southern Tohoku General Hospital, Koriyama, Fukushima 963-8052, Japan.
³ Department of Bioscience and Laboratory Medicine, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Aomori Rosai Hospital, Hachinohe, Aomori 031-8551, Japan.
⁵ Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Institute of Biology, Jan Kochanowski University, 25-369 Kielce, Poland.

Abstract

Biomarkers of tumour response to radiotherapy may help optimise cancer treatment. The aim of the present study was to identify changes in extracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) as a biomarker of radiation-induced damage to human colorectal cancer cells. HCT116 cells were exposed to increasing doses of X-rays, and extracellular miRNAs were analysed by microarray. The results were correlated with the frequency of micronuclei. A total of 59 miRNAs with a positive correlation and 4 with a negative correlation between dose (up to 6 Gy) and extracellular miRNA expression were identified. In addition, for doses between 0 and 10 Gy, 12 miRNAs among those 59 miRNAs with a positive correlation were identified; for these extracellular miRNAs, a significantly positive correlation was observed between their expression and the frequency of micronuclei for doses up to 10 Gy. These results suggest that specific miRNAs may be considered as cell damage markers and may serve as secreted radiotherapy response biomarkers for colorectal cancer; however, the results must be further validated in serum samples collected from patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; extracellular microRNA; micronuclei; radiotherapy.

Grants and funding

Funding: The present study was supported by KAKENHI, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research) (project no. 17KK0181) and Grant-in-Aid for challenging Exploratory Research (project no. 19K22731). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.