MicroRNA and LncRNA Expression Profiles in Human Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer

Background: Recent studies have established non-coding RNAs, which include microRNAs and lncRNAs, are aberrantly expressed in breast cancer. In this study, we explore the expression profile of microRNAs and lncRNAs in ER positive (ER+) breast and paracancerous tissues and define their possible correlations.

Methods: We collected ER+ breast cancer patients' and paracancerous tissues from the specimen bank of Zhejiang Cancer Hospital to extract total RNA for obtaining the expression level of microRNAs and lncRNAs by qRT-PCR.

Results: The relative expression results indicated that microRNAs such as MIR-191, MIR-213, MIR-122A had significantly higher expression and MIR-125B-1, MIR-125B-2, MIR-145 had lower expression in ER positive breast cancer compared to normal breast. The interaction of microRNA and lncRNA results exhibited upregulated MIR382-5P and lncRNA 362 in ER+ breast cancer compared to non-cancerous breast. By contrast, MIR222 and NFIA-AS1 are down-regulated. Furthermore, MIR222 and NFIA-AS1 showed different expressions in different TNM stages.

Conclusions: MicroRNAs and lncRNAs are aberrantly expressed in ER+ breast cancer. It is inferred that these microRNAs and lncRNAs may be promising biomarkers for ER positive breast cancer.