循环微小RNAs与内皮功能障碍相关疾病

循环微小RNAs(circulating miRNAs)是一类稳定存在于循环血中的长度约为19~22 nt的内源性小分子单链RNA,通过与靶mRNA特异性结合负性调节基因表达。血管内皮细胞可以产生循环miRNAs以调节自身及其他细胞的功能,同时受其他来源循环miRNAs的调控。循环miRNAs表达改变具有疾病特异性,有望成为内皮功能障碍相关疾病早期预警、诊断和预后评估的新的生物标志物。本文综述循环miRNAs的生物学特性及其在血管生物学及内皮功能障碍相关疾病中的作用。     

食管鳞癌患者血清血管内皮生长因子与内皮抑素表达及其与临床病理特征的关系

目的:探讨食管鳞癌患者血清中血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)和内皮抑素(Endostatin)的表达及其与食管鳞癌临床病理特征和预后的关系。方法:采用ELISA法检测126例食管鳞癌患者和14例正常健康人血清VEGF及Endostatin表达水平。结果:126例食管鳞癌患者血清中VEGF(20.68±3.09)ug/L水平和Endostatin水平(4.96±1.72)ug/mL均显著高于正常健康人(3.82±6.28)μg/L和(1.60±0.37)μg/L(P<0.05),V/E比值也非常显著高于正常人。食管鳞癌患者血清中VEGF、endostatin水平以及V/E比值与其分化程度、P-TNM分期、病变长度、淋巴结转移状态等显著相关(P<0.01),与其年龄、性别、肿瘤部位、浸润深度等无明显关系(P>0.05)。食管鳞癌患者血清中VEGF与Endostatin表达呈非常显著正相关(r=0.594,P<0.01)。结论:食管鳞癌患者血清中VEGF、Endostatin水平升高,与食管鳞癌的恶性程度及肿瘤负荷密切相关,其两者的比值(V/E)对食管鳞癌患者预后、生物学行为评估具有重要意义。     

NFE2L1在食管鳞癌中的表达及临床意义

目的:通过检测食管鳞癌标本中核因子E2相关因子1(NFE2L1)的表达情况,探究NFE2L1在食管鳞癌发生发展中的作用,为食管鳞癌的诊治以及预后评估提供新的思路。方法:收集我校附院2016-2017年经病理组织学检查诊断为食管鳞癌的手术标本40例及其对应的癌旁组织并从NCBI数据库下载GEO测序数据,应用定量PCR、免疫组化和生物信息分析等方法检测分析NFE2L1基因的表达情况。结果:在食管鳞癌组织中,NFE2L1表达阳性31例(77.5%),癌旁组织阳性表达17例(42.5%),两组比较差异显著有统计学意义(P0.001);进一步发现NFE2L1的阳性表达与肿瘤分化程度和淋巴转移相关(P0.05)。但在不同年龄、性别、浸润深度及不同部位之间差异无统计学意义。GEO数据分析结果显示NFE2L1在食管鳞癌组织显著高表达(P0.01),只是未达到显著差异表达的阈值标准(即变化倍数小于2倍)。结论:NFE2L1在食管鳞癌中高表达,表达的高低与食管鳞癌的发生进展密切相关。     

肝癌患者血清乙肝病毒特异性miRNAs水平指标检测与术后肿瘤复发的相关性研究

目的:HBV感染患者血清中HBV相关miRNAS的表达水平会出现变化,分析乙肝病毒特异性miRNAs在乙肝肝癌(hepatocellular carcinoma,HCC)患者血清中的表达水平与术后肿瘤复发的关系.方法:采用实时荧光定量RT-PCR (Real-time RT-PCR)检测38例乙肝肝癌患者手术前后血清乙肝病毒特异性miRNAs(miR-122和miR-22)的表达.分析血清乙肝病毒特异性miRNAs的袁达水平与肝癌切除术后的预后与复发的关系.结果:乙肝肝癌患者血清miR-122和miR-22明显高于良性肝病和正常对照组(P＜0.01).手术前后血清miR-122和miR-22的表达差异显著(P＜0.01).乙肝肝癌患者血清miR-122和miR-22表达的高低与HBVDNA、肝硬化、AFP、肿瘤大小、病理分化、TNM分级有关(P＜0.05).血清miR-122和miR-22低表达组的复发转移率显著低于高表达组(P＜0.01).结论:miR-122和miR-22在乙肝肝癌患者血清中表达上调与肝癌复发转移率高和预后差密切相关,提示其可能是一个潜在的HCC预后分子标志物.     

成骨不全症血清中骨相关microRNAs的初步筛查

旨在初步筛选出成骨不全症(Osteogenesis imperfecta,OI)患者血清中差异表达的骨相关microRNAs(miRNAs),通过探讨其在该疾病中的可能作用,为进一步研究成骨相关miRNA的功能及miRNA在成骨不全症诊断中的应用奠定基础。首先用geNorm和NormFinder等程序挑选出适于血清miRNAs定量检测的内参基因,然后利用实时荧光定量PCR技术对miRanda,Targetscan和Pictar软件以及文献报道筛选出的骨形成相关miRNAs进行定量检测,最后用配对t检验统计学方法筛查出差异表达的骨相关miRNAs。结果显示6个候选内参基因在不同年龄、性别和用药情况的成骨不全症患者和健康个体血清中的表达稳定性良好(表达稳定值M<1.5),后经标准化因子配对差异(Pairwise variations)分析确定最适内参数目为4个(配对差异值V4/5=0.133<0.15),分别是miR-16、Let-7a、snRNAU6、miR-92a。通过在16个成骨不全症患者以及8个健康对照个体的血清中进一步检测miR-16、Let-7a、snRNAU6和miR-92a,发现其表达稳定性依然良好(M<1.5)。对100余种骨相关miRNAs进行实时荧光定量检测,发现11种miRNAs在成骨不全症患者血清中有差异表达(P<0.05),并且生物信息学分析显示这些差异表达的miRNAs很可能在成骨不全症的发生发展中起重要作用。以上实验结果表明成骨不全症患者血清中存在多种差异表达的骨相关miRNAs,而且这些miRNAs很可能成为一种用于成骨不全症血清学检查及诊断的生物标志物。     

食管鳞癌p53、c-erbB-2蛋白表达研究

为探讨p53、c-erbB-2蛋白表达与食管鳞癌生物学行为的关系,应用免疫组化LSAB法研究181例食管鳞癌中p53、c-erbB-2蛋白的表达。结果发现,正常食管粘膜均无p53、c-erbB-2蛋白的表达。47％食管鳞癌出现p53表达,p53阳性病例癌旁非典型增生上皮出现p53表达,p53阴性病例癌旁非典型增生上皮亦为阴性。p53阳性表达率与患年龄、性别、肿瘤大小、组织学分级,临床TNM分期无关,且与预后无关。51.4%食管鳞癌呈现c-erbB-2蛋白表达,癌旁非典型增生上皮无c-erbB-2表达。c-erbB-2阳性率与肿瘤组织学分级、浸润深度、淋巴结转移及肝转移有关,c-erbB-2阳性表达预后较差。结果提示,p53表达在食管鳞癌发生中起重要作用;c-erbB-2表达在食管鳞癌浸润转移中起重要作用。同时进行p53、c-erbB-2蛋白免疫组化检测,有助于对食管鳞癌进行早期诊断,监测病情和判断预后。     

骨关节炎相关生物标志物

骨关节炎（osteoarthritis）是关节软骨进展的退化性疾病,并累及周围组织结构的病变,是致老年人伤残主要原因之一。目前,以临床表现和影像学诊断为主,缺乏早期检测和预后评估的有效方法。生物标志物的检查是具有前景的研究方向,在关节软骨结构改变之前,各种生物标志物代谢发生变化,其能帮助诊断和预测骨关节炎的发生发展及其预后。然而,生物标志物在临床诊断和治疗相关的应用仍需加以证实。通过广泛查阅近年有关骨关节炎相关分子生物诊断的相关文献,有助于了解生物标志物对于骨关节炎的早期诊断意义和临床应用前景。本文就关节软骨、骨和滑膜等不同组织类型相关的生物标志物进行综述。     

肺鳞癌患者与健康人血清的差异蛋白质组学研究

为筛选肺鳞癌的血清标志物,采用二维凝胶电泳(2-DE)技术分离I期肺鳞癌患者和健康人的血清蛋白质,PDquest图像分析软件识别差异蛋白质点,电喷雾串联质谱(ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS)鉴定差异蛋白,然后应用蛋白质印迹和免疫组化方法分别检测差异蛋白——结合珠蛋白-2(haptoglobin-2,HP-2)在肺鳞癌患者血清和健康人血清以及肺鳞癌组织和癌旁正常支气管上皮组织中的表达.建立了肺鳞癌患者和健康人血清的2-DE图谱,图像分析软件识别了1O个差异蛋白质点,质谱鉴定了4种差异蛋白;蛋白质印迹分析显示,HP-2在肺鳞癌血清中的表达水平显著高于健康人(P<0.05),但其表达水平与肺鳞癌的临床分期无明显相关性;免疫组化结果显示,HP-2在肺鳞癌组织中的表达水平高于癌旁正常支气管上皮组织(P<0.05).研究结果提示:HP-2是候选的肺鳞癌血清分子标志物,血清中HP-2水平对肺鳞癌诊断可能具有一定的参考价值;肺鳞癌组织中HP-2表达上调可能是患者血清中HP-2表达升高的原因之一.     

乙醇生物标志物检测技术研究

乙醇作为一种常见的饮用酒精，在代谢过程中会产生多种生物标志物，这些标志物在酒精滥用诊断、疾病研究和药物评估等领域具有重要的应用价值。文章旨在系统地探讨乙醇生物标志物的检测技术，包括不同检测方法的原理与应用，以及这些方法在临床和研究中的应用情况。文章重点阐述了液相色谱-质谱法、气相色谱-质谱法、核磁共振技术和生物传感器技术在乙醇生物标志物检测中的原理及应用，分析了乙醇生物标志物检测技术面临的挑战，如技术局限性、数据整合和个体差异等，并指出了这项技术未来的发展方向。综合来看，乙醇生物标志物检测技术在医学与科研领域具有广阔的应用前景。     

小鼠外周血心肌特异性microRNAs 的变化与病毒性心肌炎 相关关系初探

目的:通过识别病毒性心肌炎小鼠和正常小鼠血浆中miR-1,miR-133,miR-206表达量的差异,分析外周血中心肌特异性microRNAs的变化与病毒性心肌炎相关关系,为探索miRNAs作为病毒性心肌炎诊断的生物标志物提供可行性的研究资料。方法:在小鼠病毒性心肌炎模型的基础上,采用荧光定量PCR方法,检测病毒性心肌炎急性期小鼠组和正常小鼠组血浆中相关miRNAs含量,并进行统计学分析。再于病毒注射后1d,3d,5d,7d,9d,11d,分别处死病毒小鼠,观察血浆miRNAs的动态变化规律。同时用Elisa检测心肌肌钙蛋白的变化,对目的 miRNAs与心肌肌钙蛋白进行相关性分析。结果:急性期时三种miRNAs血浆含量显著上调。病毒注射后3d开始上升明显,并持续保持在较高水平到7d,于9d时开始下降。发病期间,血浆miRNAs含量与心肌肌钙蛋白呈现良好的正相关性。结论:小鼠外周血中心肌特异性microRNAs在病毒性心肌炎发病过程中的呈现明显上调并与病程和相应指标存在相关关系,为miRNAs作为病毒性心肌炎诊断的生物标志物提供了重要线索。     

Analysis of Glioblastoma Patients' Plasma Revealed the Presence of MicroRNAs with a Prognostic Impact on Survival and Those of Viral Origin

BackgroundGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive cancers with a poor prognosis in spite of a plethora of established diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and treatment modalities. Therefore, the current goal is the detection of novel biomarkers, possibly detectable in the blood of GBM patients that may enable an early diagnosis and are potential therapeutic targets, leading to more efficient interventions.ResultsWe identified 19 miRNAs with significantly different plasma levels in GBM patients, compared to the healthy individuals group with the difference limited by a factor of 2. Additionally, 11 viral miRNAs were found differentially expressed in plasma of GBM patients and 24 miRNA levels significantly correlated with the patients’ survival. Moreover, the overlap between the group of candidate miRNAs for diagnostic biomarkers and the group of miRNAs associated with survival, consisted of ten miRNAs, showing both diagnostic and prognostic potential. Among them, hsa miR 592 and hsa miR 514a 3p have not been previously described in GBM and represent novel candidates for selective biomarkers. The possible signalling, induced by the revealed miRNAs is discussed, including those of viral origin, and in particular those related to the impaired immune response in the progression of GBM.ConclusionThe GBM burden is reflected in the alteration of the plasma miRNAs pattern, including viral miRNAs, representing the potential for future clinical application. Therefore proposed biomarker candidate miRNAs should be validated in a larger study of an independent cohort of patients.     

Tumour biomarkers—Tracing the molecular function and clinical implication

In recent years, with the increase in cancer mortality caused by metastasis, and with the development of individualized and precise medical treatment, early diagnosis with precision becomes the key to decrease the death rate. Since detecting tumour biomarkers in body fluids is the most non‐invasive way to identify the status of tumour development, it has been widely investigated for the usage in clinic. These biomarkers include different expression or mutation in microRNAs (miRNAs), circulating tumour DNAs (ctDNAs), proteins, exosomes and circulating tumour cells (CTCs). In the present article, we summarized and discussed some updated research on these biomarkers. We overviewed their biological functions and evaluated their multiple roles in human and small animal clinical treatment, including diagnosis of cancers, classification of cancers, prognostic and predictive values for therapy response, monitors for therapy efficacy, and anti‐cancer therapeutics. Biomarkers including different expression or mutation in miRNAs, ctDNAs, proteins, exosomes and CTCs provide more choice for early diagnosis of tumour detection at early stage before metastasis. Combination detection of these tumour biomarkers may provide higher accuracy at the lowest molecule combination number for tumour early detection. Moreover, tumour biomarkers can provide valuable suggestions for clinical anti‐cancer treatment and execute monitoring of treatment efficiency.     

MicroRNA signatures: clinical biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Recognition that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease in which each patient's tumor has specific characteristics has led to a search for biomarkers and combinations of markers (signatures) to improve the diagnosis, prognostic classification and prediction of therapeutic benefit versus toxicity for individual tumors and patients. Many microRNAs (miRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in cancer and seem to influence tumor behavior and progression. miRNAs have great potential to evolve into effective biomarkers in the clinic because of their extreme stability and ease of detection. However, there are several major technical challenges as well as numerous discrepancies among currently reported miRNA signatures. In this review, we discuss the use of miRNA signatures for breast cancer treatment and discuss the challenges in the field.     

A Pilot Study Identifying a Set of microRNAs As Precise Diagnostic Biomarkers of Acute Kidney Injury

In the last decade, Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) diagnosis and therapy have not notably improved probably due to delay in the diagnosis, among other issues. Precocity and accuracy should be critical parameters in novel AKI biomarker discovery. microRNAs are key regulators of cell responses to many stimuli and they can be secreted to the extracellular environment. Therefore, they can be detected in body fluids and are emerging as novel disease biomarkers. We aimed to identify and validate serum miRNAs useful for AKI diagnosis and management. Using qRT-PCR arrays in serum samples, we determined miRNAs differentially expressed between AKI patients and healthy controls. Statistical and target prediction analysis allowed us to identify a panel of 10 serum miRNAs. This set was further validated, by qRT-PCR, in two independent cohorts of patients with relevant morbi-mortality related to AKI: Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Cardiac Surgery (CS). Statistical correlations with patient clinical parameter were performed. Our results demonstrated that the 10 selected miRNAs (miR-101-3p, miR-127-3p, miR-210-3p, miR-126-3p, miR-26b-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-27a-3p, miR-93-3p and miR-10a-5p) were diagnostic biomarkers of AKI in ICU patients, exhibiting areas under the curve close to 1 in ROC analysis. Outstandingly, serum miRNAs estimated before CS predicted AKI development later on, thus becoming biomarkers to predict AKI predisposition. Moreover, after surgery, the expression of the miRNAs was modulated days before serum creatinine increased, demonstrating early diagnostic value. In summary, we have identified a set of serum miRNAs as AKI biomarkers useful in clinical practice, since they demonstrate early detection and high diagnostic value and they recognize patients at risk.     

Circulating micro-RNAs as potential blood-based markers for early stage breast cancer detection

Introduction

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are a class of small, non-coding RNA molecules with relevance as regulators of gene expression thereby affecting crucial processes in cancer development. MiRNAs offer great potential as biomarkers for cancer detection due to their remarkable stability in blood and their characteristic expression in many different diseases. We investigated whether microarray-based miRNA profiling on whole blood could discriminate between early stage breast cancer patients and healthy controls.

Methods

We performed microarray-based miRNA profiling on whole blood of 48 early stage breast cancer patients at diagnosis along with 57 healthy individuals as controls. This was followed by a real-time semi-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) validation in a separate cohort of 24 early stage breast cancer patients from a breast cancer screening unit and 24 age matched controls using two differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-202, miR-718).

Results

Using the significance level of p<0.05, we found that 59 miRNAs were differentially expressed in whole blood of early stage breast cancer patients compared to healthy controls. 13 significantly up-regulated miRNAs and 46 significantly down-regulated miRNAs in our microarray panel of 1100 miRNAs and miRNA star sequences could be detected. A set of 240 miRNAs that was evaluated by radial basis function kernel support vector machines and 10-fold cross validation yielded a specificity of 78.8%, and a sensitivity of 92.5%, as well as an accuracy of 85.6%. Two miRNAs were validated by RT-qPCR in an independent cohort. The relative fold changes of the RT-qPCR validation were in line with the microarray data for both miRNAs, and statistically significant differences in miRNA-expression were found for miR-202.

Conclusions

MiRNA profiling in whole blood has potential as a novel method for early stage breast cancer detection, but there are still challenges that need to be addressed to establish these new biomarkers in clinical use.     

Regulation of cancer metastasis by microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs that have been found highly conserved among species. MiRNAs are able to negatively regulate gene expression through base pairing of 3’ UTRs of their target genes. Therefore, miRNAs have been shown to play an important role in regulating various cellular activities. Over the past decade, substantial evidences have been obtained to show that miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in human malignancies and could act as “OncomiRs” or “Tumor suppressor miRs”. In recent years, increasing number of studies have demonstrated the involvement of miRNAs in cancer metastasis. Many studies have shown that microRNAs could directly target genes playing a central role in epithelia-mesenchymal-transition (EMT), a cellular transformation process that allows cancer cells to acquire motility and invasiveness. EMT is considered an essential step driving the early phase of cancer metastasis. This review will summarize the recent findings and characterization of miRNAs that are involved in the regulation of EMT, migration, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Lastly, we will discuss potential use of miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as therapeutic targets for cancer.     

Proteomic analysis of global alteration of protein expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC), a major subtype of esophageal carcinoma, is one of the aggressive cancers with worst prognosis in the world. The dismal outcome of ESCC is attributed to multiple reasons including its aggressive nature, largely unknown molecular mechanism of its progression, and the lack of biomarkers for early detection and effective prediction of its clinical behavior. To identify proteins with prognostic and/or predictive value, we applied a proteomics strategy to quantify proteins differentially expressed in ESCC using matched samples of carcinoma and adjacent normal epithelial cells. The analysis led to identification of 28 proteins aberrantly expressed in cancer cells with changes of at least three-fold in ESCC relative to normal squamous epithelial cells. These changes represent functional alterations of essential proteins for normal cellular physiology, accounting for many cellular changes involved in development of ESCC, including cell transformation, loss of differentiation, tumor growth, apoptosis, tumor invasion, and cell metabolism. The differentially expressed proteins shed new insights on the mechanism of tumorigenesis and provide candidate biomarkers for early detection of ESCC.     

A pilot study of circulating miRNAs as potential biomarkers of early stage breast cancer

Background

To date, there are no highly sensitive and specific minimally invasive biomarkers for detection of breast cancer at an early stage. The occurrence of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in blood components (including serum and plasma) has been repeatedly observed in cancer patients as well as healthy controls. Because of the significance of miRNA in carcinogenesis, circulating miRNAs in blood may be unique biomarkers for early and minimally invasive diagnosis of human cancers. The objective of this pilot study was to discover a panel of circulating miRNAs as potential novel breast cancer biomarkers.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Using microarray-based expression profiling followed by Real-Time quantitative Polymerase Cycle Reaction (RT-qPCR) validation, we compared the levels of circulating miRNAs in plasma samples from 20 women with early stage breast cancer (10 Caucasian American (CA) and 10 African American (AA)) and 20 matched healthy controls (10 CAs and 10 AAs). Using the significance level of p<0.05 constrained by at least two-fold expression change as selection criteria, we found that 31 miRNAs were differentially expressed in CA study subjects (17 up and 14 down) and 18 miRNAs were differentially expressed in AA study subjects (9 up and 9 down). Interestingly, only 2 differentially expressed miRNAs overlapped between CA and AA study subjects. Using receiver operational curve (ROC) analysis, we show that not only up-regulated but also down-regulated miRNAs can discriminate patients with breast cancer from healthy controls with reasonable sensitivity and specificity. To further explore the potential roles of these circulating miRNAs in breast carcinogenesis, we applied pathway-based bioinformatics exploratory analysis and predicted a number of significantly enriched pathways which are predicted to be regulated by these circulating miRNAs, most of which are involved in critical cell functions, cancer development and progression.

Conclusions

Our observations from this pilot study suggest that the altered levels of circulating miRNAs might have great potential to serve as novel, noninvasive biomarkers for early detection of breast cancer.