Role of IL17A rs2275913 and rs3748067 polymorphisms in the risk cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem and is associated with high cancer-related mortality in females worldwide. The expression of IL17A can increase the migration and invasiveness of cervical cancer cells by activating the NF-κB signal pathway. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can alter gene function and protein expression. We examined the association between two IL17A SNPs (rs2275913 and rs3748067) and the risk of cervical cancer. We also investigated the interaction between IL17A -174G/C and -572C/G mutations and environmental factors. Our 1:2 matched case-control study included 185 cervical cancer patients and 370 healthy controls. The IL17A rs2275913 and rs3748067 SNPs were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Using logistic regression analysis, we found that individuals harboring the TT genotype of IL17A rs3748067 had an increased risk of cervical cancer compared with those carrying the CC genotype, and the adjusted OR (95%CI) was 6.29 (2.30-19.81). Moreover, individuals carrying the T allele of IL17A rs3748067 were more susceptible to cervical cancer than those with the C allele, and the adjusted OR (95%CI) was 2.31 (1.53-3.50). No significant interaction was observed between the IL17A rs2275913 polymorphism and cervical cancer risk. In conclusion, our study suggests that the IL17A rs3748067 polymorphism is independently associated with the risk of cervical cancer, and has a relationship with human papillomavirus infection with regard to the risk of cervical cancer.

A microRNA-152 that targets the phosphatase and tensin homolog to inhibit low oxygen induced-apoptosis in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Brain damage caused by perinatal asphyxia is dangerous for neonatal infants, but the mechanism by which it occurs remains elusive. In this study, microRNA-152 (miR-152) expression was induced by low oxygen levels in rat models of hypoxia brain damage, as well as in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) cultured in vitro. Analysis of the sequence of miR-152 revealed that the phosphatase and tensin homolog gene (PTEN) is probably the target of miR-152 both in humans and rats. When HBMECs were transfected with miR-152 mimics, PTEN expression was inhibited at both the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, transfection with the miR-152 mimic also inhibited apoptosis induced by hypoxia. Furthermore, expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax was downregulated while the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2 was upregulated after miR-152 mimic transfection. Taken together, these results indicate that miR-152 induced by hypoxia suppresses cell apoptosis and acts as a protective factor during hypoxia by repressing PTEN.

Prognostic role of microRNA-100 in patients with bladder cancer.

We investigated the clinical significance and prognostic value of microRNA-100 (miR-100) in bladder cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of miR-100 in 92 pairs of human bladder cancer and adjacent normal tissue samples. Overall survival (OS) curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method and were evaluated for statistical significance using a log-rank test. The significance of different variables with respect to survival was analyzed using the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. The miR-100 expression level was significantly lower in bladder cancer tissues than in normal adjacent tissues (mean ± SD: 1.49 ± 0.52 vs 2.79 ± 0.59, P < 0.05). A low miR-100 expression level was correlated with tumor stage (P = 0.023), tumor grade (P = 0.031), and regional lymph node involvement (P = 0.16). Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank test indicated that low miR-100 expression had a significant impact on OS (35.1 vs 75.3%; P = 0.004). Multivariate analysis revealed that the miR-100 expression level was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 2.768, 95%CI = 1.287-8.992; P = 0.009) in bladder cancer patients. The present study demonstrated that the downregulation of miR-100 was associated with advanced clinical features and poor prognosis for bladder cancer patients, suggesting that miR-100 downregulation may be used as an unfavorable prognostic biomarker in bladder cancer.