Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Gynecol Oncol. 2011 Jul;122(1):33-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2011.03.032. Epub 2011 Apr 29.
MicroRNAs are tiny non-coding RNAs that reportedly play an important role in numerous physiological processes. A G>C polymorphism (rs2910164) is located on the passenger strand of the precursor of miR-146a, which could alter mature miR-146a expression. We hypothesized that a possible association exists between miR-146a gene polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk in a population-based control study of female residents in Jiangsu Province.
The subjects included 447 cervical cancer cases and 443 cancer-free controls with frequency matched by age. We genotyped the functional polymorphism of miR-146a (rs2910164) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, and used a sample of 24 cervical cancer tissue to test the expression of miR-146a by real-time quantitative reverse transcription.
Our study indicated that the subjects carrying GG homozygote had a 1.496-fold increased risk than those carrying CG/CC genotypes (95% CI=1.068-2.095). Moreover, miR-146a quantification showed that the carriers of GG genotype had obviously more reduced miR-146a expression level compared with the carriers of CC genotype.
Our study suggests that the risk of cervical cancer in a Chinese population partly results from miRNA-146a expression deviation in vivo, being caused by common polymorphism in miR-146a. This is an initial study to indicate that miR-146a (rs2910164) might contribute to cervical cancer susceptibility.
微小 RNA 是一种微小的非编码 RNA，据报道在许多生理过程中发挥着重要作用。一个 G>C 多态性（rs2910164）位于 miR-146a 前体的过客链上，可能改变成熟 miR-146a 的表达。我们假设在江苏省女性居民的基于人群的对照研究中，miR-146a 基因多态性与宫颈癌风险之间可能存在关联。
研究对象包括 447 例宫颈癌病例和 443 例年龄匹配的无癌对照。我们通过聚合酶链反应-限制性片段长度多态性（PCR-RFLP）方法对 miR-146a 的功能多态性（rs2910164）进行基因分型，并使用 24 例宫颈癌组织样本通过实时定量逆转录检测 miR-146a 的表达。
我们的研究表明，与携带 CG/CC 基因型的个体相比，携带 GG 纯合子的个体发生宫颈癌的风险增加了 1.496 倍（95%CI=1.068-2.095）。此外，miR-146a 的定量结果表明，与携带 CC 基因型的个体相比，携带 GG 基因型的个体的 miR-146a 表达水平明显降低。
我们的研究表明，在中国人群中，宫颈癌的风险部分来自体内 miRNA-146a 表达的偏差，这是由 miR-146a 常见多态性引起的。这是一项初步研究，表明 miR-146a（rs2910164）可能与宫颈癌易感性有关。
