Expression features and clinical significance of the microRNA-888 gene family in hepatocellular carcinoma / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression features and clinical significance of the microRNA-888 (miRNA-888) gene family members in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MethodsA total of 72 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who were treated in The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine from January 2012 to December 2017 were enrolled, and 72 liver tissue samples collected from healthy volunteers were enrolled as normal control group. Quantitative real-time PCR and in situ hybridization were used to measure the expression of miRNA-888 family members (miRNA-888, miRNA-891a, miRNA-891b, miRNA-892a, and miRNA-892b) in HCC tissue, and the association of the expression of miRNA-888, miRNA-891b, and miRNA-892a with the clinicopathological features of HCC was analyzed. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. ResultsHCC tissue had significantly higher expression of miRNA-888, miRNA-891b, and miRNA-892a than normal liver tissue (miRNA-888 2.53±0.75 vs 0.46±0.08, t=14.02, P＜0.001; miRNA-891b 2.26±0.38 vs 1.19±0.21, t=7.75, P＜0.001; miRNA-892a 5.44±1.01 vs 1.06±0.30, t=35.27, P＜0001). According to the results of in situ hybridization, the miRNAs of miRNA-888, miRNA-891b, and miRNA-892a were mainly located in the cell nucleus of HCC tissue, and there were significant differences in the expression of these miRNAs between HCC tissue and normal tissue (miRNA-888 3.91±0.92 vs 1.21±0.42, t=22.65, P＜0.001; miRNA-891b 2.92±0.76 vs 0.83±0.21, t=2292, P＜0001; miRNA-892a 3.81±0.99 vs 1.30±0.32, t=20.47, P＜0001). There were significant differences in the expression of miRNA-888 and miRNA-891b between the patients with different histological grades and clinical stages (χ2=6.25, 4.44, 4.76, and 6.05, all P＜0.05), and there was a significantly higher expression of miRNA-892a in stage III/IV tumors (χ2=8.50, P＜0.001). ConclusionThere are significant increases in the expression of miRNA-888, miRNA-891b, and miRNA-892a in HCC tissue, and such increases are closely associated with the malignancy of HCC.