MicroRNAs Associated with the Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy in Biliary Tract Cancer Cell Lines

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Andrej Wagner⁴  Christian Mayr⁴  Doris Bach⁴  Romana Illig³  Kristjan Plaetzer²  Frieder Berr⁴  Martin Pichler¹  Daniel Neureiter³  Tobias Kiesslich⁴ 

[1] Division of Oncology, Medical University Graz, Graz 8036, Austria; E-Mail:;Laboratory of Photodynamic Inactivation of Microorganisms, Department of Materials Science and Physics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Austria; E-Mail:;Institute of Pathology, Paracelsus Medical University/Salzburger Landeskliniken (SALK), Salzburg 5020, Austria; E-Mails:;Department of Internal Medicine I, Paracelsus Medical University/Salzburger Landeskliniken (SALK), Muellner Hauptstrasse 48, Salzburg 5020, Austria; E-Mails:

关键词: MicroRNAs;    bile duct cancer;    photodynamic therapy;    cytotoxicity;    sensitivity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms151120134

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a palliative treatment option for unresectable hilar biliary tract cancer (BTC) showing a considerable benefit for survival and quality of life with few side effects. Currently, factors determining the cellular response of BTC cells towards PDT are unknown. Due to their multifaceted nature, microRNAs (miRs) are a promising analyte to investigate the cellular mechanisms following PDT. For two photosensitizers, Photofrin^® and Foscan^®, the phototoxicity was investigated in eight BTC cell lines. Each cell line (untreated) was profiled for expression of n = 754 miRs using TaqMan^® Array Human MicroRNA Cards. Statistical analysis and bioinformatic tools were used to identify miRs associated with PDT efficiency and their putative targets, respectively. Twenty miRs correlated significantly with either high or low PDT efficiency. PDT was particularly effective in cells with high levels of clustered miRs 25-93*-106b and (in case of miR-106b) a phenotype characterized by high expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin and high proliferation (cyclinD1 and Ki67 expression). Insensitivity towards PDT was associated with high miR-200 family expression and (for miR-cluster 200a/b-429) expression of differentiation markers Ck19 and Ck8/18. Predicted and validated downstream targets indicate plausible involvement of miRs 20a*, 25, 93*, 130a, 141, 200a, 200c and 203 in response mechanisms to PDT, suggesting that targeting these miRs could improve susceptibility to PDT in insensitive cell lines. Taken together, the miRNome pattern may provide a novel tool for predicting the efficiency of PDT and—following appropriate functional verification—may subsequently allow for optimization of the PDT protocol.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.