[Screening and functional analysis of microRNA expression in HPV16-positive squamous carcinoma of the cervix 
in the Uygur of southern Xinjiang].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the differential expression of microRNA (miRNA) in HPV16-positive squamous carcinoma of the cervix in the Uygur of southern Xinjiang and to predict the target genes of the miRNAs.


METHODS: Samples of HPV16-positive squamous carcinoma of the cervix from 5 Uygurs were collected for miRNA microarray assay. The differentially expressed miRNAs were selected for further verification by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The software, including targetscan, miRwalk, miRanda and pictar, were used to predict the target genes of the verified miRNAs.


RESULTS: Eighteen differentially expressed miRNAs were identified by miRNA microarray assay. The significantly differentially expressed miRNA-138 and miRNA-720 were verified by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. According to the prediction, the target genes for miRNA-138 were EZH2, LYPLA1, ARHGEF3, CLNS1A, EIF4EBP1, GNAI2, LIMK1, RHOC, ROCK2, SLC20A1, TERT, and H2AFX, while for miRNA-720 were EZH2, AGAP2, SPOCK2, FGF14, HNRNPA2B1, QKI, FOXG1, ACVR1B, DNMT3A, EPHB2, LATS2, KRAS, CCND2, NBN, ENAM, AMELX, PRNP, and CALB1.


CONCLUSION: miR-138 and miR-720 are the down-regulated target miRNAs in HPV16-positive squamous carcinoma of the cervix in the Uygur of southern Xinjiang. The common target gene for miR-138 and miR-720 is EZH2, which might be related to cervical squamous carcinoma invasion and metastasis.