Characterization of microRNA expression in serous ovarian carcinoma

Abstract

Serous ovarian cancer is a major gynecologic malignancy with a poor 5-year survival rate. However, little is known regarding the behavior and genetics of ovarian tumorigenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be dysregulated in ovarian carcinomas. To assess the miRNA expression profiles in serous ovarian cancer, we defined the patterns of miRNA expression in 100 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ovarian cancer tissues blocks as well as 50 corresponding normal oviduct tissues using miRNA microarray. MiRNA expression profiling showed that 63 miRNAs were downregulated and 43 miRNAs were upregulated in serous ovarian cancer tissues compared with control tissues. The expression of five dysregulated miRNAs was validated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). GO term and pathway analysis revealed that the biological process of the cell cycle was significantly enriched and the MAPK signaling pathway was highly involved in the progression of ovarian cancer. The results suggested that the aberrant expression of miRNAs is involved in ovarian carcinogenesis and thus these miRNAs may function as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.