MicroRNA Expression Profiling—Potential Molecular Discrimination of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Subtypes
Horatiu Silaghi,
Laura Ancuța Pop,
Carmen Emanuela Georgescu,
Diana Muntean,
Doinița Crișan,
Patricia Silaghi,
Ionela Lungu,
Bogdana Adriana Nasui,
Eva-H. Dulf,
Cornelia Braicu,
Ioana Berindan-Neagoe,
Cristina Alina Silaghi
Affiliations
Horatiu Silaghi
Department of Surgery V, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 8 Victor Babes Street, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Laura Ancuța Pop
Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Carmen Emanuela Georgescu
Department of Endocrinology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 8 Victor Babes Street, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Diana Muntean
Department of Pathology, Clinic Municipal Hospital Cluj-Napoca, Tăbăcarilor Street 11, 400139 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Doinița Crișan
Department of Pathology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 6 Louis Pasteur Street, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Patricia Silaghi
Faculty of Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 6 Louis Pasteur Street, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ionela Lungu
Cardiomed Medical Center, 17 Republicii Street, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Bogdana Adriana Nasui
Department of Community Health, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 6 Louis Pasteur Street, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Eva-H. Dulf
Department of Automation, Faculty of Automation and Computer Science, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400014 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cornelia Braicu
Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cristina Alina Silaghi
Department of Endocrinology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, 8 Victor Babes Street, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Recent research has revealed the importance of miRNAs in the diagnosis and clinical evolution of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We aim to identify a specific miRNA profile that could differentiate between specific subtypes of PTC. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, total RNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissues of 43 patients, 17 with an infiltrative follicular variant of PTC (iFVPTC) and 26 with a conventional variant of PTC (cPTC). Nine miRNAs were evaluated using qRT-PCR technology and specific miRNA assays. Results: We found specific patterns for cPTC and iFVPTC, such as miRNA altered in both types of tumours (miR-146b-5p, miR-181a-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-21-5p and miR-222-3p) and two miRNAs significantly expressed only in cPTC (miR-20b-5p, miR-21-5p). The iFVPTC group presented strong and moderate correlations between miRNA expression and clinical data. miR-221-3p, miR-195-5p, miR-181-5p, miR-146b-5p and miR-222 were correlated with age, tumour size (TS) or lymph node metastases (N), while only miR-20b-5p, miR-195-5p and miR-181-5p were correlated with TS, N and age in the cPTC group. Conclusions: The present study allowed the identification of a signature of two miRNAs to confirm miRNA differences between the two histological subtypes of TC. Our results provide advances in the molecular diagnosis of TC and could help to improve the diagnostic performance of already existing molecular classifiers.
