Mir-217 as a biomarker candidate in iranian breast cancer patients

Faezeh Majidi,1,* Mahdieh salimi,2 Hossein mozdarani ,3 Iman salahshourifar ,4

1. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2. Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Medical Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
3. Department of Medical Genetics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
4. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction

Despite the advances in diagnosis and new treatments such as targeted therapies, breast cancer is still the most common cause of cancer death in women. finding biomarkers related to breast cancer in different aspects such as early detection, prognosis, treatment response, etc. has huge importance. micrornas play variety of significant roles in tumorigenesis, tumor progression and metastasis in breast cancer.

Methods

. in the present study the mir-217 expression was investigated as a potential breast cancer related biomarker in 45 tumor and normal adjacent breast tissues using micro rna extraction and cdna synthesis followed by real- time rt-pcr. the mrna level of dach1 were investigated by real time pcr and the dual-luciferase reporter system was used to determine the direct interaction between mir-217 and dach1. the data was statically analyzed by student t-test using spss software.

Results

Our data showed that compared to that in normal breast samples, the expression of mir-217 was significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissues. moreover, the expression of mir-217 was negatively correlated with the expression of dach1. the results of dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that mir-217 directly targets and inhibits the transcriptive activity of dach1.

Conclusion

In conclusion we found that mir-217 was commonly overexpressed in breast cancer. the dach1 (the cell-fate determination factor) was identified as a target of mir-217. further analysis is needed to distinguish mir-217 association with pathological and clinical characteristics.

Keywords

Breast cancer, mir-217, biomarker, epigenetics