Increased Exosomal MicroRNA-21 and MicroRNA-146a Levels in the Cervicovaginal Lavage Specimens of Patients with Cervical Cancer

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Jie Liu¹  Hong Sun¹  Xiaoli Wang¹  Qun Yu²  Shuhong Li²  Xiaoyan Yu² 

[1] Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264000, Shandong, China;

关键词: cervical cancer;    exosomes;    microRNA-21;    microRNA-146a;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15010758

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Well-run screening programs for cervical cancer in the population at risk have been shown to result in a sharp decrease in the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in a number of large populations. Expression patterns of a recently identified biomarker family, microRNA, appear to be characteristic of tumor type and developmental origin. Several tumors have been reported to actively release exosomes carrying microRNAs. The present study has determined the association of microRNAs with cervical cancer-derived exosomes. The cervical cancer-derived exosomes were enriched in the cervicovaginal lavages specimens and the abundance of exosomes and exosomal microRNAs was detected by electron microscopy, western blot analysis, RT-qPCR and microRNA target reporter vector. The microRNA-21 and microRNA-146a, which were up-regulated in cervical cancer patients, were associated with the high levels of cervical cancer-derived exosomes. In conclusion, we demonstrated the abundance of exosomes in the cervicovaginal lavage specimens of women with cervical cancer. Furthermore, our results indicated that abnormally high levels of microRNA-21 and microRNA-146a existed in the cervical cancer-derived exosomes and the two microRNAs were functional in 293T cells.

【 授权许可】

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