JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, vol.25, no.1, pp.1-11, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
Background:The expression levels of some microRNAs
(miRNAs) in lung cancer have been associated with an increased risk of cancer.
miRNAs play a significant role in the pathogenesis of human
cancers. Because of
this, miRNA polymorphisms can
be important for carcinogenesis. MiR-34 is a family of
miRNAs known to have reduced levels of expression in lung cancer and other human
cancers (pancreas, colon). It functions as a tumor suppressor and targets
oncogenes such as MET, RET, and RAB43. Additionally, the miR-125 family is
related to many cancer types and targets P53, BCL2, VEGF, and EGFR.Methods:In
this study, we investigated three polymorphisms (rs35301225 C/A, T, rs4938723
T/C, and
rs12976445 C/T) in
respectively miR-34a, miR-34b/c,
and miR-125a. The
study population consisted of 100 patients with lung cancer and 100
healthy controls. Blood samples was
collected into EDTA-containing tubes
and genomic DNA
was extracted. Genetic polymorphisms were identified using
the polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism
(PCR-RFLP). Results:We observed that individuals carrying the miR-34b/c
rs4938723 variant heterozygote CT exhibited a significant increase in the risk
of lung cancer when compared to those with the wild-type homozygote
TT (p<0.01). Moreover, the
presence of the
C allele in
this polymorphism was significantly
associated with an
elevatede risk of
lung cancer (p<0.001). Additionally, the
T/T haplotype of
miR-34b/c and miR125a
polymorphisms was found to confer a protective effect against lung
cancer in ourhaplotype analysis (p<0.001).Conclusions:The rs4938723
polymorphism in miR-34b/c is thought to play an essential role in the
pathogenesis of lung cancer. The frequency of the T/T haplotype for
rs4938723/rs12976445 polymorphisms
was significantly higher
in the control
group compared to
the group of lung cancer patients.