ABSTRACT
Objective The aim was to screen the expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and explore the function of microRNA-301 a (miR-301 a). Methods Collected the tumor and adjacent normal tissues of 45 patients, who were diagnosed primary GIST. The expression profiles of tumor miRNAs in 5 of the 45 patients were obtained by microarray technology, and the abnormal expression levels of miRNAs in the remaining 40 patients were detected by Real Time-PCR as a validation experiment. Correlation analysis was analyzed between the significantly up-regulated expression of miR-301 a and the clinicopathological features of the patients. The MTT experiment was used to explore the effect of miR-301 a on the growth of GIST cell lines. Results Five kinds of miRNAs with high expression and five kinds of miRNAs with low expression were screened out from GIST, of which the expression of miR-301 a was up-regulated most obviously. The expression of miR-301 a was closely related to tumor risk grade, tumor size, mitosis and necrosis (P < 0.05). The overexpression of miR-301 a in GIST cell lines could significantly enhance the proliferation of cells. Conclusions MiR-301 a was up-regulated in GIST, which was closely related to malignant clinicopathological features and could affect the growth and proliferation of tumor cells in vitro. MiR-301 a might be a potential target for future treatment of GIST.