Genome-wide identification of bone metastasis-related microRNAs in lung adenocarcinoma by high-throughput sequencing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. They participate in a wide variety of biological processes, including apoptosis, proliferation and metastasis. The aberrant expression of miRNAs has been found to play an important role in many cancers.

To understand the roles of miRNAs in the bone metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma, we constructed two small RNA libraries from blood of lung adenocarcinoma patients with and without bone metastasis. High-throughput sequencing combined with differential expression analysis identified that 7 microRNAs were down-regulated and 21 microRNAs were up-regulated in lung adenocarcinoma with bone metastasis. A total of 797 target genes of the differentially expressed microRNAs were identified using a bioinformatics approach. Functional annotation analysis indicated that a number of pathways might be involved in bone metastasis, survival of the primary origin and metastatic angiogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma. These include the MAPK, Wnt, and NF-kappaB signaling pathways, as well as pathways involving the matrix metalloproteinase, cytoskeletal protein and angiogenesis factors.

This study provides some insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie lung adenocarcinoma development, thereby aiding the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.