Abstract 1955: Computational correlation among microRNAs and mRNAs specifically expressed in pancreatic cancer stem cells
Authors: Jung Dawoon E. , Choi Hyungseok , Heo Jee Yeon , Lee Hee Seung , Lee Kyong Joo , Song Si Young 
Published: July 2016

The objective of this study was to analyze and identify pancreatic cancer stem cell-specific microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and investigate their correlations to cancer stem cell biology. More, pancreatic cancer stem cell-specific miRNAs in cancer patients’ serum were analyzed to determine as a diagnostic application. We used sphere cultivation methods to enrich the stem cell population from the pancreatic cancer cell line, Capan-1 with the normal pancreatic cell line, YGIC-6, and analyzed the overall miRNA and mRNA expressions using with microarray analysis. Total RNA from normal and patient's serum was extracted and the expression individual miRNAs in serum was analyzed by real-time PCR. Fifty two miRNAs including mir-26a, miR-99a, miR-106a, mir-125b, miR-192 and mir-429 were differentially expressed in the pancreatic cancer stem cells. From the miRNA analysis, 170 miRNAs were differentially expressed in the normal cell line YGIC-6, 126 miRNAs in the cancer cell line Capan-1 and 12 miRNAs in both the normal and cancer cell line originated stem cell populations. Examining both the miRNA and mRNA profiles, 52 miRNAs and 111 stem cell-associated mRNAs were highly correlated (both p values&lt;0.01) that were differentially expressed in the pancreatic cancer stem cells. These miRNAs and mRNAs were further investigated with cross-correlation analysis, which showed a number of highly correlated miRNAs and mRNAs that are either directly or indirectly linked based on the target prediction software. The correlation degree is shown on the heatmap, and individual miRNAs with their highly correlated individual mRNAs were analyzed to predict possible mechanisms for miRNAs in pancreatic cancer stem cells. To examine miRNAs level in serum, total RNA was extracted from normal and cancer patient's serum and the expression level of individual miRNAs were analyzed. The expression level (Ct value) of mir-106a, mir-125b and mir-429 was differentially expressed in cancer patient's serum than normal and mir-99a was differentially expressed in cancer patients with poor prognosis. Differentially expressed miRNAs in pancreatic cancer stem cells provide insights into possible linkages between individual miRNAs and stem cell-associated target mRNAs in cancer stem cells and have broad implications in our understanding of cancer stem cells and cancer stem cell-targeted cancer therapy. Expression level of miRNAs in serum was differed in normal and cancer patient suggests miRNAs as a diagnostic and prognostic marker.

Citation Format: Dawoon E. Jung, Hyungseok Choi, Jee Yeon Heo, Hee Seung Lee, Kyong Joo Lee, Si Young Song. Computational correlation among microRNAs and mRNAs specifically expressed in pancreatic cancer stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1955.