Assessing Expression of Mir-96 in human colorectal cancer cells

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and one of the 10 most common causes of death. Many factors are involved in the onset and progression of colorectal cancer. The most important factors are miRNAs and their mechanisms. Mir-96 is, directly and indirectly, involved in apoptosis, proliferation, and invasion of tumors. Therefore, investigating the role of one of the important miRNAs called Mir-96 and its relation with colorectal cancer can improve the process of diagnosis and treatment in this group of patients.

Methods: In this study, at first, patients with colorectal cancer were selected and RNA extraction from normal and tumor tissues was performed. After designing specific primers for reference miRNA, cDNA synthesis was performed using specific stem-loop primers for Mir-96 and U6 as reference. Finally, the expression of Mir-96 was evaluated by a Real-Time PCR reaction. Changes in the expression level of Mir-96 in tumor tissue compared to normal samples were calculated by the formula and GraphPad Prism software. The results were also analyzed by paired non-parametric T-test, SPSS software, ANOVA and correlation tests.

Results: Mir-96 expression in tumor specimens was 1.49 times higher than normal specimens (P=0.014). Also, there was a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and smoking history, in tumor specimens. Mir-96 can have good potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic marker in colorectal cancer.