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Updated: May 11, 2026
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An In Vitro Protocol for Evaluating MicroRNA Levels, Functions, and Associated Target Genes in Tumor Cells
Published on: May 21, 2019
MicroRNA gene polymorphisms in pancreatic cancer
Emmanouel Pavlakis1, Ioannis Papaconstantinou, Maria Gazouli
12nd Department of Surgery, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Summary
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNAs (miRNAs) may influence pancreatic cancer risk. Specific miRNA SNPs (rs2910164 and rs11614913) were associated with earlier tumor stages in pancreatic cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Oncology
Background:
- MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by inhibiting translation.
- Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within miRNAs can alter their function.
- Investigating miRNA SNPs offers insights into cancer development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between two common precursor miRNA SNPs (rs11614913/miR-196a2 and rs2910164/miR-146a) and pancreatic cancer.
- To determine if these SNPs correlate with pancreatic cancer susceptibility and clinicopathological features.
Main Methods:
- Genotyping of rs11614913 and rs2910164 SNPs in 93 pancreatic cancer patients and 122 healthy controls.
- Analysis of genotype and haplotype distributions in relation to tumor stage (T1-T4).
Main Results:
- No significant differences in overall genotype distributions were found between pancreatic cancer patients and controls.
- However, specific genotypes (rs2910164 GG, rs11614913 CC) and haplotypes (rs2910164C/rs11614913C, rs2910164G/rs11614913C) were more frequent in patients with early-stage tumors (T1/T2) compared to advanced stages (T3/T4).
Conclusions:
- The studied miRNA SNPs (rs2910164 and rs11614913) may be implicated in pancreatic tumorigenesis.
- These variations might influence tumor progression, particularly early-stage development.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the precise molecular mechanisms linking these miRNA sequence variations to aberrant gene expression and pancreatic cancer development.
Related Concept Videos
01:22MicroRNAs
MicroRNA (miRNA) are short, regulatory RNA transcribed from introns (non-coding regions of a gene) or intergenic regions (stretches of DNA present between genes). Several processing steps are required to form biologically active, mature miRNA. The initial transcript, called primary miRNA (pri-mRNA), base-pairs with itself, forming a stem-loop structure. Within the nucleus, an endonuclease enzyme, called Drosha, shortens the stem-loop structure into hairpin-shaped pre-miRNA. After the pre-miRNA...
01:22MicroRNAs
MicroRNA (miRNA) are short, regulatory RNA transcribed from introns—non-coding regions of a gene—or intergenic regions—stretches of DNA present between genes. Several processing steps are required to form biologically active, mature miRNA. The initial transcript, called primary miRNA (pri-mRNA), base-pairs with itself forming a stem-loop structure. Within the nucleus, an endonuclease enzyme, called Drosha, shortens the stem-loop structure into hairpin-shaped pre-miRNA. After the pre-miRNA ends...
01:22MicroRNAs
MicroRNA (miRNA) are short, regulatory RNA transcribed from introns—non-coding regions of a gene—or intergenic regions—stretches of DNA present between genes. Several processing steps are required to form biologically active, mature miRNA. The initial transcript, called primary miRNA (pri-mRNA), base-pairs with itself forming a stem-loop structure. Within the nucleus, an endonuclease enzyme, called Drosha, shortens the stem-loop structure into hairpin-shaped pre-miRNA. After the pre-miRNA ends...
01:05Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
A single nucleotide polymorphism or SNP is a single nucleotide variation at a specific genomic position in a large population. It is the most prevalent type of sequence variation found in the human genome. Point mutations that occur in more than 1% of the population qualify as SNPs. These are present once every 1000 nucleotides on an average in the human genome. Replacement of a purine with another purine (A/G) or a pyrimidine with another pyrimidine (C/T) is known as a transition. In contrast,...