Prognostic significance of miRNA-1 (miR-1) expression in patients with chordoma

Reliable prognostic biomarkers for chordoma have not yet been established. Recent studies revealed that expression of miRNA-1 (miR-1) is frequently downregulated in several cancer types including chordoma. The goal of this follow-up study is to investigate the expression of miR-1 as a prognostic biomarker and further confirm the functional role of miR-1 in chordoma cell growth and proliferation. We determined the relative expression levels of miR-1 and Met in chordoma tissue samples and correlated those to clinical variables. The results showed that miR-1 was downregulated in 93.7% of chordoma tissues and expression was inversely correlated with Met expression. miR-1 expression levels also correlated with clinical prognosis. To characterize and confirm the functional role of miR-1 in the growth and proliferation of chordoma cells, miR-1 precursors were stably transfected into chordoma cell lines UCH-1 and CH-22. Cell Proliferation Assay and MTT were used to evaluate cell growth and proliferation. Restoring expression of miR-1 precursor decreased cell growth and proliferation in UCH-1 and CH-22 cells. These results indicate that suppressed miR-1 expression in chordoma may in part be a driver for tumor growth, and that miR-1 has potential to serve as prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for chordoma patients.