Identification of Aberrantly Expressed miRNAs in Gastric Cancer

The noncoding components of the genome, including miRNA, can contribute to pathogenesis of gastric cancer. Their expression has been profiled in many human cancers, but there are a few published studies in gastric cancer. It is necessary to identify novel aberrantly expressed miRNAs in gastric cancer. In this study, the expression profile of 1891 miRNAs was analyzed using a miRCURY array LNA miRNA chip from three gastric cancer tissues and three normal tissues. The expression levels of 4 miRNAs were compared by real-time PCR between cancerous and normal tissues. We found that 31 miRNAs are upregulated in gastric cancer (p < 0.05) and 10 miRNAs have never been reported by other studies; 30 miRNA are downregulated (P < 0.05) in gastric cancer tissues. Gene ontology analysis revealed that those dysregulated miRNAs mainly take part in regulating cell proliferation. The levels of has-miR-105, -213*, -514b, and -548n were tested by real-time PCR and have high levels in cancerous tissues. Here, we report a miRNA profile of gastric cancer and provide new perspective to understand this malignant disease. This novel information suggests the potential roles of these miRNAs in the diagnosis, prognosis biomarkers, or therapy targets of gastric cancer.