Genome-wide analysis of microRNA signature in lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR exon 19 deletion

PurposeThe findings of EGFR mutations and the development of targeted therapies have significantly improved the overall survival of lung cancer patients. Still, the prognosis remains poor, so we need to know more about the genetic alterations in lung cancer. MicroRNAs are dysregulated in lung cancer, and microRNAs can regulate EGFR. So it is very important to predict the candidate microRNAs that target mutated EGFR and to investigate the role of these candidate microRNAs in lung cancer.\n\nMaterials and methodsIn this study, we investigated the difference of microRNAs expression between lung adenocarcinoma cell lines with EGFR exon 19 deletion (H1650 and PC9) and its wild-type (H1299 and A549) using the Phalanx Human Whole Genome Microarray. Then the expression of individual microRNAs was validated by qRT-PCR assays. Moreover, we have detected the microRNAs expression in serum of lung adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion and wild-type.\n\nResultsThe expression of 1,732 microRNAs was evaluated, and we found that microRNAs expression was different between these two groups. Hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-200c-3p, hsa-miR-203, hsa-miR-3182, hsa-miR-934 were up-regulated and hsa-miR-3196 was down-regulated in the EGFR exon 19 deletion group compared with wild-type group. The detection of circulating microRNAs showed that miR-3196 was down-regulated in lung adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion compared with wild-type.\n\nConclusionsIt is suggested that microRNAs associate with EGFR exon 19 deletion and miR-3196 can be further explored for potential predictor and targeted biomarker when it is difficult to get the tumors.