Evaluation of MiR-20a and MiR-204 Expression Involved in Autophagy in Non-small Cell lung Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and the most lethal cancer worldwide. It is often diagnosed at advanced stages. One of the mechanisms of the immune system to fight lung cancer cells is autophagy. Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process in which proteins and organelles are deleted by lysosomes. microRNAs are small RNAs containing about 19–22 nucleotides that function as important regulatory elements in the cell and as oncogene or tumor suppressors in lung cancer. The role of miRNAs is important in lung cancer progression by regulating autophagy genes of several proteins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of miR-204-5p and miR-20a expressions involved in the autophagy pathway in non-small cell lung cancer. Materials & Methods: In this study, miR-204-5p and miR-20a expression levels were studied, using the quantitative Real-Time PCR technique, in 30 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. RNA was extracted from tumor and adjacent normal tissue of NSCLC patients. cDNA was synthesized using specific stem-loop for miR-20a, miR-204-5p, and RNU44 reference gene. Finally, the expression levels of miRNAs were assessed by Real-Time PCR and the data were analyzed using the 2-∆∆CT method. Code of ethics: sbmub.REC.1394.112 Findings: Based on the results of the qRT-PCR analysis it was revealed that miR-20a and miR-204 were upregulated and downregulated in tumor tissues, respectively. Discussion & Conclusions: These changes in the expression level, suggest that miR-20a and miR-204-5p are oncogenes and tumor suppressors, respectively. So, measuring the expression level of miR-20a could be a biomarker for the diagnosis and progression of non-small cell lung cancer as well as a platform for the targeted treatment of cancer.

Keywords

• MicroRNA
• Autophagy
• Lung cancer
• Biomarker