Research Article

Computational Analysis of miRNA and their Gene Targets Significantly Involved in Colorectal Cancer Progression

Author(s): Jeyalakshmi Kandhavelu, Kumar Subramanian, Amber Khan, Aadilah Omar, Paul Ruff and Clement Penny*

Volume 8, Issue 1, 2019

Page: [68 - 75] Pages: 8

DOI: 10.2174/2211536607666180803100246

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in women and the fourth most common cancer in men. Dysregulation of small non-coding miRNAs have been correlated with colon cancer progression. Since there are increasing reports of candidate miRNAs as potential biomarkers for CRC, this makes it important to explore common miRNA biomarkers for colon cancer. As computational prediction of miRNA targets is a critical initial step in identifying miRNA: mRNA target interactions for validation, we aim here to construct a potential miRNA network and its gene targets for colon cancer from previously reported candidate miRNAs, inclusive of 10 up- and 9 down-regulated miRNAs from tissues; and 10 circulatory miRNAs.

Methods: The gene targets were predicted using DIANA-microT-CDS and TarBaseV7.0 databases. Each miRNA and its targets were analyzed further for colon cancer hotspot genes, whereupon DAVID analysis and mirPath were used for KEGG pathway analysis.

Results: We have predicted 874 and 157 gene targets for tissue and serum specific miRNA candidates, respectively. The enrichment of miRNA revealed that particularly hsa-miR-424-5p, hsa-miR-96-5p, hsa-miR-1290, hsa-miR-224, hsa-miR-133a and has-miR-363-3p present possible targets for colon cancer hallmark genes, including BRAF, KRAS, EGFR, APC, amongst others. DAVID analysis of miRNA and associated gene targets revealed the KEGG pathways most related to cancer and colon cancer. Similar results were observed in mirPath analysis. A new insight gained in the colon cancer network pathway was the association of hsa-mir-133a and hsa-mir-96-5p with the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. In the present study, target prediction shows that while hsa-mir-424-5p has an association with mostly 10 colon cancer hallmark genes, only their associations with MAP2 and CCND1 have been experimentally validated.

Conclusion: These miRNAs and their targets require further evaluation for a better understanding of their associations, ultimately with the potential to develop novel therapeutic targets.

Keywords: Biomarker, colon cancer, DIANA, KEGG pathway, miRNA, target prediction.

Graphical Abstract

[1]
Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay J, Pisani P. Global cancer statistics, 2002. CA Cancer J Clin 2005; 55(2): 74-108.
[2]
Jemal A, Siegel R, Xu J, Ward E. Cancer statistics, 2010. CA Cancer J Clin 2010; 60(5): 277-300.
[3]
Parkin DM. International variation. Oncogene 2004; 23(38): 6329-40.
[4]
Center MM, Jemal A, Ward E. International trends in colorectal cancer incidence rates. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009; 18(6): 1688-94.
[5]
Hrasovec S, Glavac D. MicroRNAs as novel biomarkers in colorectal cancer. Front Genet 2012; 3: 180.
[6]
Iorio MV, Croce CM. MicroRNA dysregulation in cancer: diagnostics, monitoring and therapeutics. A comprehensive review. EMBO Mol Med 2012; 4(3): 143-59.
[7]
Lu J, Getz G, Miska EA, et al. MicroRNA expression profiles classify human cancers. Nature 2005; 435(7043): 834-8.
[8]
Rosenfeld N, Aharonov R, Meiri E, et al. MicroRNAs accurately identify cancer tissue origin. Nat Biotechnol 2008; 26(4): 462-9.
[9]
Lanza G, Ferracin M, Gafa R, et al. mRNA/microRNA gene expression profile in microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer. Mol Cancer 2007; 6: 54.
[10]
Schetter AJ, Leung SY, Sohn JJ, et al. MicroRNA expression profiles associated with prognosis and therapeutic outcome in colon adenocarcinoma. JAMA 2008; 299(4): 425-36.
[11]
Vishnubalaji R, Hamam R, Abdulla MH, et al. Genome-wide mRNA and miRNA expression profiling reveal multiple regulatory networks in colorectal cancer. Cell Death Dis 2015; 6: e1614.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cddis.2014.556]
[12]
Reid JF, Sokolova V, Zoni E, et al. miRNA profiling in colorectal cancer highlights miR-1 involvement in MET-dependent proliferation. Mol Cancer Res 2012; 10(4): 504-15.
[13]
Valeri N, Braconi C, Gasparini P, et al. MicroRNA-135b promotes cancer progression by acting as a downstream effector of oncogenic pathways in colon cancer. Cancer Cell 2014; 25(4): 469-83.
[14]
Li E, Ji P, Ouyang N, et al. Differential expression of miRNAs in colon cancer between African and Caucasian Americans: implications for cancer racial health disparities. Int J Oncol 2014; 45(2): 587-94.
[15]
Wu X, Li S, Xu X, et al. The potential value of miR-1 and miR-374b as biomarkers for colorectal cancer. Int J Clin Exp Pathol 2015; 8(3): 2840-51.
[16]
Wang J, Huang SK, Zhao M, et al. Identification of a circulating microRNA signature for colorectal cancer detection. PLoS One 2014; 9(4): e87451.
[17]
Paraskevopoulou MD, Georgakilas G, Kostoulas N, et al. DIANAmicroT web server v5.0: service integration into miRNA functional analysis workflows. Nucleic Acids Res 2013; 41(Web Server issue): W169-73. Epub 2013/05/18. 2013.
[18]
Tops BB, Normanno N, Kurth H, et al. Development of a semi-conductor sequencing-based panel for genotyping of colon and lung cancer by the Onconetwork consortium. BMC Cancer 2015; 15: 26.
[19]
Shannon P, Markiel A, Ozier O, et al. Cytoscape: a software environment for integrated models of biomolecular interaction networks. Genome Res 2003; 13(11): 2498-504.
[20]
Kruger J, Rehmsmeier M. RNA hybrid: microRNA target prediction easy, fast and flexible 2006.
[21]
Chen J, Huang XF. The signal pathways in azoxymethane-induced colon cancer and preventive implications. Cancer Biol Ther 2009; 8(14): 1313-7.
[22]
Zhu H, Dougherty U, Robinson V, et al. EGFR signals downregulate tumor suppressors miR-143 and miR-145 in Western diet-promoted murine colon cancer: role of G1 regulators. Mol Cancer Res 2011; 9(7): 960-75.
[23]
Wu CT, Lin WY, Chang YH, Lin PY, Chen WC, Chen MF. DNMT1-dependent suppression of microRNA424 regulates tumor progression in human bladder cancer. Oncotarget 2015; 6(27): 24119-31.
[24]
Oneyama C, Kito Y, Asai R, et al. MiR-424/503-mediated Rictor upregulation promotes tumor progression. PLoS One 2013; 8(11): e80300.
[25]
XY Xu, WJ Yan, WM Jiang, et al. MiR-424-5p promotes cell invasion and migration by targeting CYLD in human pancreatic cancer. Int J Clin Exp Med 2016; 9(3): 5960-8.
[26]
Li D, Xia L, Chen M, et al. miR-133b, a particular member of myomiRs, coming into playing its unique pathological role in human cancer. Oncotarget 2017; 8(30): 50193-208.
[27]
Chamorro-Jorganes A, Araldi E, Penalva LO, Sandhu D, Fernandez-Hernando C, Suarez Y. MicroRNA-16 and microRNA-424 regulate cell-autonomous angiogenic functions in endothelial cells via targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 and fibroblast growth factor receptor-1. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2011; 31(11): 2595-606.
[28]
Chen B, Duan L, Yin G, Tan J, Jiang X. Simultaneously expressed miR-424 and miR-381 synergistically suppress the proliferation and survival of renal cancer cells-Cdc2 activity is up-regulated by targeting WEE1. Clinics (São Paulo) 2013; 68(6): 825-33.
[29]
Wu J, Ji X, Zhu L, et al. Up-regulation of microRNA-1290 impairs cytokinesis and affects the reprogramming of colon cancer cells. Cancer Lett 2013; 329(2): 155-63.
[30]
Ma Q, Wang Y, Zhang H, Wang F. MiR-1290 contributes to colorectal cancer cell proliferation by targeting INPP4B. Oncol Res 2017; 26(8): 1167-74.
[31]
Fodde R. The APC gene in colorectal cancer. Eur J Cancer 2002; 38(7): 867-71.
[32]
Fischer H, Stenling R, Rubio C, Lindblom A. Colorectal carcinogenesis is associated with stromal expression of COL11A1 and COL5A2. Carcinogenesis 2001; 22(6): 875-8.
[33]
Mitchell SM, Ross JP, Drew HR, et al. A panel of genes methylated with high frequency in colorectal cancer. BMC Cancer 2014; 14: 54.
[34]
Nosho K, Igarashi H, Nojima M, et al. Association of microRNA-31 with BRAF mutation, colorectal cancer survival and serrated pathway. Carcinogenesis 2014; 35(4): 776-83.
[35]
Wang Z, Ma B, Ji X, et al. MicroRNA-378-5p suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells by targeting BRAF. Cancer Cell Int 2015; 15: 40.
[36]
Engelman JA, Luo J, Cantley LC. The evolution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases as regulators of growth and metabolism. Nat Rev Genet 2006; 7(8): 606-19.
[37]
Khaleghpour K, Li Y, Banville D, Yu Z, Shen SH. Involvement of the PI 3-kinase signaling pathway in progression of colon adenocarcinoma. Carcinogenesis 2004; 25(2): 241-8.
[38]
Liu X, Wang Y, Zhao J. MicroRNA-337 inhibits colorectal cancer progression by directly targeting KRAS and suppressing the AKT and ERK pathways. Oncol Rep 2017; 38(5): 3187-96.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy