Overexpression of miR-210 is detected in most solid tumors and has been linked to adverse prognosis in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma, breast, head and neck, and pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer cells were mono-cultured or indirectly co-cultured with PSCs. miRNAs were prepared, and Agilent's miRNA microarray containing probes for 904 human miRNAs was used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs. miR-210 was identified as an upregulated miRNA by co-culture with PSCs.
Hypoxic conditions induced miR-210 expression in six PC cell lines (AsPC-1, BxPC-3, MIAPaCa-2, PANC-1, Su86.86 and SW1990), but not in Capan-1 or T3M4 cells.
This study provides the first evidence for an oncogenic activity of miR-155, miR-203, miR-210 and miR-222 in the development of pancreatic cancer as has been reported for other tumor types.
We have profiled four miRNAs, miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, and miR-196a, all implicated in the development of pancreatic cancer with either proven or predicted target genes involved in critical cancer-associated cellular pathways.