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Modulation of miR-29 expression by ?-fetoprotein is linked to the hepatocellular carcinoma epigenome.

ABSTRACT: UNLABELLED:Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 70%-85% of primary liver cancers and ranks as the second leading cause of male cancer death. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), normally highly expressed in the liver only during fetal development, is reactivated in 60% of HCC tumors and associated with poor patient outcome. We hypothesize that AFP+ and AFP- tumors differ biologically. Multivariable analysis in 237 HCC cases demonstrates that AFP level predicts poor survival independent of tumor stage (P<0.043). Using microarray-based global microRNA (miRNA) profiling, we found that miRNA-29 (miR-29) family members were the most significantly (P<0.001) down-regulated miRNAs in AFP+ tumors. Consistent with miR-29's role in targeting DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A), a key enzyme regulating DNA methylation, we found a significant inverse correlation (P<0.001) between miR-29 and DNMT3A gene expression, suggesting that they might be functionally antagonistic. Moreover, global DNA methylation profiling reveals that AFP+ and AFP- HCC tumors have distinct global DNA methylation patterns and that increased DNA methylation is associated with AFP+ HCC. Experimentally, we found that AFP expression in AFP- HCC cells induces cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Overexpression of AFP, or conditioned media from AFP+ cells, inhibits miR-29a expression and induces DNMT3A expression in AFP- HCC cells. AFP also inhibited transcription of the miR-29a/b-1 locus, and this effect is mediated through c-MYC binding to the transcript of miR-29a/b-1. Furthermore, AFP expression promotes tumor growth of AFP- HCC cells in nude mice. CONCLUSION:Tumor biology differs considerably between AFP+ HCC and AFP- HCC; AFP is a functional antagonist of miR-29, which may contribute to global epigenetic alterations and poor prognosis in HCC.

SUBMITTER: Parpart S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4146718 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Modulation of miR-29 expression by α-fetoprotein is linked to the hepatocellular carcinoma epigenome.

Parpart Sonya S Roessler Stephanie S Dong Fei F Rao Vinay V Takai Atsushi A Ji Junfang J Qin Lun-Xiu LX Ye Qing-Hai QH Jia Hu-Liang HL Tang Zhao-You ZY Wang Xin Wei XW

Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 20140725 3

<h4>Unlabelled</h4>Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 70%-85% of primary liver cancers and ranks as the second leading cause of male cancer death. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), normally highly expressed in the liver only during fetal development, is reactivated in 60% of HCC tumors and associated with poor patient outcome. We hypothesize that AFP+ and AFP- tumors differ biologically. Multivariable analysis in 237 HCC cases demonstrates that AFP level predicts poor survival in ...[more]

PMID: 24798303

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Project description:INTRODUCTION:serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was routinely employed as a tumor marker for screening, diagnosis, and treatment follow-up of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a substantial proportion of HCC patients had normal AFP level even at an advanced disease status. Few studies to date had tried to explore the nature and behavior of this normal AFP HCC (N-HCC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcome of N-HCC after operation. In addition, potential tumor markers for N-HCC were also sought in an attempt to augment diagnostic ability. METHODS:between 2005 and 2015, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with hepatectomy in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Linkou branch were divided into two groups according to their preoperative serum AFP level (<15 ng/mL: NHCC; ?15 ng/mL: abnormal AFP HCC (A-HCC)). Patient demographic data and clinicopathological variables were collected. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression multivariate analyses were performed to identify significant risk factors for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for N-HCC. ELISA and immunohistochemical (IHC) studies were employed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of various tumor markers. RESULTS:a total of 1616 patients (78% male) who underwent liver resection for HCC were included in this study. Of them, 761 patients (47.1%) were N-HCC. N-HCC patients were significantly older with more comorbidities and less hepatitis virus infections. Furthermore, N-HCC had fewer early recurrences (49.6% vs. 60.8%, p < 0.001) and better DFS (44.6 months vs. 23.6 months, p < 0.001) and OS (94.5 months vs. 81.7 months, p < 0.001). Both ELISA and IHC studies demonstrated that glypican-3 (GPC3) would be a promising diagnostic tumor marker for N-HCC. CONCLUSION:N-HCC patients were significantly older and had less hepatitis virus infections or cirrhosis. Their tumors tended to be smaller, less vascular invaded, and well-differentiated. The carcinogenesis of N-HCC may thus not be identical to that of typical HCC. GPC3 would be a promising tumor marker for diagnosing N-HCC. Further study is warranted to validate our findings.

Project description:A growing number of studies have shown that competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks might play important roles during the process of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the role of the ceRNA network in immune cell infiltration in HCC. Immune-related gene sets were downloaded from Molecular Signatures Database, and differentially expressed genes were screened based on TCGA HCC transcriptome data. The corresponding miRNAs with low expression and good prognostic implications, and the corresponding lncRNAs with high expression and poor prognostic were identified to construct ceRNA networks. The networks were utilized for clinical correlation analysis and risk model construction, and the CIBERSORT algorithm was applied to assess immune cell infiltration. In this study, the mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA model was used to construct a ceRNA network in HCC using immune-related differentially expressed mRNAs. Assessment of the MIR4435-2HG/hsa-miR-1-3p/MMP9/hsa-miR-29-3p/DUXAP8 ceRNA network axis in HCC showed that a high risk/poor prognosis was significantly correlated with tumor stage and invasion depth. MMP9 was positively correlated with resting M0 macrophages and NK cells and negatively correlated with activated mast cells, resting mast cells, monocytes and activated NK cells. DUXAP8 was positively correlated with M2 macrophages and negatively correlated with MIR4435-2HG, which was positively correlated with M2 macrophages and negatively correlated with activated mast cells, CD8 T cells and follicular helper T cells. The correlation of the MIR4435-2HG/hsa-miR-1-3p/MMP9/hsa-miR-29-3p/DUXAP8 ceRNA network axis with immune cell infiltration provides further information on the mechanism of HCC development. The result might improve our understanding the interactions between immune related genes and non-coding RNAs in the occurrence and development of HCC, and the relevant RNAs might be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and molecular targets in HCC patients.

Dataset Information

Modulation of miR-29 expression by ?-fetoprotein is linked to the hepatocellular carcinoma epigenome.

Publications

Modulation of miR-29 expression by α-fetoprotein is linked to the hepatocellular carcinoma epigenome.

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