Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jan;35(1):76-85.
doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgt333. Epub 2013 Oct 8.

Deregulation of cancer-related miRNAs is a common event in both benign and malignant human breast tumors

Andliena Tahiri  1 , Suvi-Katri Leivonen, Torben Lüders, Israel Steinfeld, Miriam Ragle Aure, Jürgen Geisler, Rami Mäkelä, Silje Nord, Margit L H Riis, Zohar Yakhini, Kristine Kleivi Sahlberg, Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale, Merja Perälä, Ida R K Bukholm, Vessela N Kristensen
Affiliations

Deregulation of cancer-related miRNAs is a common event in both benign and malignant human breast tumors

Andliena Tahiri et al. Carcinogenesis. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs, which play an essential role in the regulation of gene expression during carcinogenesis. The role of miRNAs in breast cancer has been thoroughly investigated, and although many miRNAs are identified as cancer related, little is known about their involvement in benign tumors. In this study, we investigated miRNA expression profiles in the two most common types of human benign tumors (fibroadenoma/fibroadenomatosis) and in malignant breast tumors and explored their role as oncomirs and tumor suppressor miRNAs. Here, we identified 33 miRNAs with similar deregulated expression in both benign and malignant tumors compared with the expression levels of those in normal tissue, including breast cancer-related miRNAs such as let-7, miR-21 and miR-155. Additionally, messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles were obtained for some of the same samples. Using integrated mRNA/miRNA expression analysis, we observed that overexpression of certain miRNAs co-occurred with a significant downregulation of their candidate target mRNAs in both benign and malignant tumors. In support of these findings, in vitro functional screening of the downregulated miRNAs in non-malignant and breast cancer cell lines identified several possible tumor suppressor miRNAs, including miR-193b, miR-193a-3p, miR-126, miR-134, miR-132, miR-486-5p, miR-886-3p, miR-195 and miR-497, showing reduced growth when re-expressed in cancer cells. The finding of deregulated expression of oncomirs and tumor suppressor miRNAs in benign breast tumors is intriguing, indicating that they may play a role in proliferation. A role of cancer-related miRNAs in the early phases of carcinogenesis and malignant transformation can, therefore, not be ruled out.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types