Epigenetic silencing of miR-137 is a frequent event in gastric carcinogenesis.
MicroRNAs (miRNA) are involved in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression and are dysregulated during carcinogenesis. CpG island methylation of miR-137 is a common event in different cancers; however, the role of miR-137 in gastric cancer (GC) remains largely unexplored. In this study we aimed to characterize the epigenetic alterations of miR-137 in gastric carcinogenesis. We analyzed total 295 tissues including paired primary gastric cancer (T-GC) with corresponding adjacent gastric mucosa (N-GC), paired primary colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues with corresponding non-tumorous mucosa, gastric tissues from controls (N), and patients with chronic/atrophic gastritis (CG) with and without Helicobacter pylori infection. Bisulfite pyrosequencing and TaqMan RT-PCR were used to analyze miR-137 methylation and expression, respectively. Survival differences were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analyses. miR-137 CpG island methylation was more frequent in tumorous compared to non-tumorous conditions and higher in CRC than in GC. In comparison to N-GC, miR 137 methylation level was lower in N and CG tissues, which correlates with Correas cascade. MiR-137 methylation inversely correlates with global LINE-1 methylation and miR-137 expression. miR-137 methylation was higher in intestinal type GC compared to diffuse one, and higher in antrum compared to cardia and corpus, however, miR-137 methylation was associated with worse prognosis in diffuse, but not in intestinal type of GC. The expression in colon was significantly higher compared to any gastric tissues suggesting functional difference. In summary, miR-137 methylation is a frequent event in gastrointestinal cancers which occurs early in stepwise manner during gastric carcinogenesis and inversely correlates with global methylation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
['Steponaitiene|Ruta|R|', 'Kupcinskas|Juozas|J|', 'Langner|Cosima|C|', 'Balaguer|Francesc|F|', 'Venclauskas|Linas|L|', 'Pauzas|Henrikas|H|', 'Tamelis|Algimantas|A|', 'Skieceviciene|Jurgita|J|', 'Kupcinskas|Limas|L|', 'Malfertheiner|Peter|P|', 'Link|Alexander|A|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D063646:Carcinogenesis D018899:CpG Islands D019175:DNA Methylation D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic D005260:Female D005753:Gastric Mucosa D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic D016481:Helicobacter Infections D016480:Helicobacter pylori D006801:Humans D008297:Male D035683:MicroRNAs D008875:Middle Aged D013270:Stomach D013274:Stomach Neoplasms
miR-137 microRNA methylation gastric cancer colorectal cancer gastritis