Integrated Analysis of Mouse and Human Gastric Neoplasms Identifies Conserved microRNA Networks in Gastric Carcinogenesis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that bind to the 3' untranslated regions of mRNAs to promote their degradation or block their translation. Mice with disruption of the trefoil factor 1 gene (Tff1) develop gastric neoplasms. We studied these mice to identify conserved miRNA networks involved in gastric carcinogenesis. METHODS: We performed next-generation miRNA sequencing analysis of normal gastric tissues (based on histology) from patients without evidence of gastric neoplasm (n = 64) and from TFF1-knockout mice (n = 22). We validated our findings using 270 normal gastric tissues (including 61 samples from patients without evidence of neoplastic lesions) and 234 gastric tumor tissues from 3 separate cohorts of patients and from mice. We performed molecular and functional assays using cell lines (MKN28, MKN45, STKM2, and AGS cells), gastric organoids, and mice with xenograft tumors. RESULTS: We identified 117 miRNAs that were significantly deregulated in mouse and human gastric tumor tissues compared with nontumor tissues. We validated changes in levels of 6 miRNAs by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses of neoplastic gastric tissues from mice (n = 39) and 3 independent patient cohorts (n = 332 patients total). We found levels of MIR135B-5p, MIR196B-5p, and MIR92A-5p to be increased in tumor tissues, whereas levels of MIR143-3p, MIR204-5p, and MIR133-3p were decreased in tumor tissues. Levels of MIR143-3p were reduced not only in gastric cancer tissues but also in normal tissues adjacent to tumors in humans and low-grade dysplasia in mice. Transgenic expression of MIR143-3p in gastric cancer cell lines reduced their proliferation and restored their sensitivity to cisplatin. AGS cells with stable transgenic expression of MIR143-3p grew more slowly as xenograft tumors in mice than control AGS cells; tumor growth from AGS cells that expressed MIR143-3p, but not control cells, was sensitive to cisplatin. We identified and validated bromodomain containing 2 (BRD2) as a direct target of MIR143-3p; increased levels of BRD2 in gastric tumors was associated with shorter survival times for patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an analysis of miRNA profiles of gastric tumors from mice and human patients, we identified a conserved signature associated with the early stages of gastric tumorigenesis. Strategies to restore MIR143-3p or inhibit BRD2 might be developed for treatment of gastric cancer.

Recent patents of DNA methylation biomarkers in gastrointestinal oncology.

Gastrointestinal malignancies are among the most common malignancies worldwide. Advances in technology and treatment have improved diagnosis and monitoring of these tumors. As a consequence, identification of new biomarkers that can be applied at different levels of disease is urgently needed. DNA methylation is a process in which cytosines acquire a methyl group in 5' position only if they are followed by a guanine. An emerging catalog of specific genes inactivated by DNA methylation in gastrointestinal tumors has been established. In this review we will give a brief overview of the main sources of DNA used to investigate methylation biomarkers and several related patents. One of these is related to multiple genes that predict the risk of development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Another evaluated methylation status of 24 genes to find one frequently methylated in primary tumors as well as plasma samples from gastric cancer patients. Others patented the epigenetic silencing of miR-342 as a promissory biomarker for colorectal carcinoma. Thus the new field of DNA methylation biomarkers holds the promise of better methods for screening, early detection, disease progression and outcome predictor of therapy response in gastrointestinal oncology.