BACKGROUND
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common
malignancy in South-East Asia. NPC is characterized by distant
metastasis and poor prognosis. The pathophysiological mechanism of
nasopharyngeal carcinoma is unknown. This study aimed to identify the crucial
miRNAs in
nasopharyngeal carcinoma and their target genes, and to discover the potential mechanism of
nasopharyngeal carcinoma development. MATERIAL AND METHODS Microarray expression profiling of
miRNA and
mRNA from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was downloaded, and we performed a significance analysis of differential expression. An interaction network of
miRNAs and target genes was constructed. The underlying function of differentially expressed genes was predicted through Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses. To validate the microarray analysis data, significantly different expression levels of
miRNAs and target genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS We identified 27 differentially expressed
miRNAs and 982 differentially expressed mRNAs between NPC and normal control tissues. 12
miRNAs and 547 mRNAs were up-regulated and 15
miRNAs and 435 mRNAs were down-regulated in NPC samples. We found a total of 1185 negative correlation pairs between
miRNA and
mRNA. Differentially expressed target genes were significantly enriched in pathways in
cancer, cell cycle, and
cytokine-
cytokine receptor interaction signaling pathways. Significantly differentially expressed
miRNAs and genes, such as hsa-miR-205, hsa-miR-18b,
hsa-miR-632, hsa-miR-130a, hsa-miR-34b, PIGR, SMPD3, CD22, DTX4, and CDC6, may play essential roles in the development of
nasopharyngeal carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS hsa-miR-205, hsa-miR-18b,
hsa-miR-632, hsa-miR-130a, and hsa-miR-34b may be related to the development of
nasopharyngeal carcinoma by regulating the genes involved in pathways in
cancer and cell cycle signaling pathways.