Herpes virus microRNA expression and significance in serous ovarian cancer

PLoS One. 2014 Dec 8;9(12):e114750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114750. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Serous ovarian cancer (SEOC) is the deadliest gynecologic malignancy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs which regulate gene expression and protein translation. MiRNAs are also encoded by viruses with the intent of regulating their own genes and those of the infected cells. This is the first study assessing viral miRNAs in SEOC. MiRNAs sequencing data from 487 SEOC patients were downloaded from the TCGA website and analyzed through in-house sequencing pipeline. To cross-validate TCGA analysis, we measured the expression of miR-H25 by quantitative immunofluorescence in an additional cohort of 161 SEOC patients. Gene, miRNA expression, and cytotoxicity assay were performed on multiple ovarian cancer cell lines transfected with miR-H25 and miR-BART7. Outcome analysis was performed using multivariate Cox and Kaplan-Meier method. Viral miRNAs are more expressed in SEOC than in normal tissues. Moreover, Herpetic viral miRNAs (miR-BART7 from EBV and miR-H25 from HSV-2) are significant and predictive biomarkers of outcome in multivariate Cox analysis. MiR-BART7 correlates with resistance to first line chemotherapy and early death, whereas miR-H25 appears to impart a protective effect and long term survival. Integrated analysis of gene and viral miRNAs expression suggests that miR-BART7 induces directly cisplatin-resistance, while miR-H25 alters RNA processing and affects the expression of noxious human miRNAs such as miR-143. This is the first investigation linking viral miRNA expression to ovarian cancer outcome. Viral miRNAs can be useful to develop biomarkers for early diagnosis and as a potential therapeutic tool to reduce SEOC lethality.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / genetics*
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / mortality
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / pathology
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / virology
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Herpesviridae / genetics*
  • Herpesviridae / pathogenicity
  • Herpesviridae Infections / genetics*
  • Herpesviridae Infections / pathology
  • Herpesviridae Infections / virology
  • Humans
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / mortality
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / virology
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Viral / genetics*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Survival Rate
  • Tissue Array Analysis

Substances

  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Viral

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by a grant from AIRC (Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro, IG11975), Associazione OPPO e le sue stanze ONLUS, by the Ruth C. Donovan Cancer Research Program and by a liberal donation from Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles. This work is dedicated to Monica DeFeo who lost her courageous battle against cancer at the young age of 53. Sponsors of the study did not have any role in the study conception and management.