MicroRNA let-7g acts as tumor suppressor and predictive biomarker for chemoresistance in human epithelial ovarian cancer

Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 5;9(1):5668. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42221-x.

Abstract

Remarkable deregulation of microRNAs has been demonstrated in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In particular, some of the let-7 miRNA family members have been proposed as tumor suppressors. Here, we explored the functional roles of let-7g in EOC. The ectopic overexpression of let-7g in OVCAR3 and HEY-A8 EOC cells induced i) a down-regulation of c-Myc and cyclin-D2 thus promoting cell cycle arrest, ii) a reduction of Vimentin, Snail and Slug thus counteracting the progression of epithelial to mesenchymal transition, iii) a chemosensitization to cis-platinum treatment. Next, analysis of human EOC tissues revealed that let-7g expression was significantly reduced in tumor tissue specimens of patients with EOC compared to their non-tumor counterparts (p = 0.0002). Notably, low let-7g tissue levels were significantly associated with acquired chemoresistance of patients with late-stage of EOC (n = 17, p = 0.03194). This finding was further validated in the serum samples collected from the same cohort of patients (n = 17, p = 0.003). To conclude, we demonstrate that let-7g acts as tumor suppressor and might be used to disable EOC tumor progression and chemoresistance to cis-platinum-based chemotherapy. Furthermore, we propose that decreased expression of let-7g could serve as a tissue and serum biomarker able to predict the chemo-resistant features of EOC patients.

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial / genetics*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / genetics
  • Down-Regulation / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Genes, Tumor Suppressor / physiology*
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / genetics
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MicroRNAs