Up-Regulation of in Glioblastoma Multiforme as A Regulator of and Signalling.

OBJECTIVE

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that play a role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. was originally introduced as a regulator of genes involved in some brain tumours. Due to the high expression of in limited glioblastoma brain tumours, in this study we intend to assess the expressions of and in brain tumour tissues and attribute new target genes to these miRNAs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this experimental study, total RNA from brain tissue samples was extracted for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis after cDNA synthesis. In order to confirm a direct interaction of with two target genes, the 3' UTR of and transforming growth factor-beta receptor 1 () were cloned separately for assessment by the dual luciferase assay.

RESULTS

RT-qPCR analysis indicated that both and specifically up-regulated in higher grades of glioma tumours versus other brain tumour types. Consistently, lower expression levels of and were detected in higher grade gliomas compared to other types of brain tumours, which was inverse to the level of expression detected for the heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor () gene. The results of the dual luciferase assay supported a direct interaction of with the 3' UTR sequences of the and genes.

CONCLUSION

Overall, our data suggest that miR-1118 is a potential molecular biomarker for discrimination of glioma brain tumours from other brain tumour types.