[Expression and significance of microRNA-125b in tongue squamous cell carcinoma]

The expression of microRNA-125b in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) was detected and analyzed for its relationship with the clinicopathological features of TSCC.

Real time fluorescence-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of microRNA-125b in 35 TSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 35 TSCC cases. The relationship between the expression of microRNA-125b in TSCC tissues and the clinicopathological features of patients with TSCC was analyzed. In situ hybridization (ISH) was used to detect the expression level of microRNA-125b gene in the TSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues.

RT-qPCR results showed that the relative expression levels of microRNA-125b in the TSCC issues was 2.32±0.69, and that of normal tissues was 0.87±0.32. The statistical results showed that the expression level of microRNA-125b was significantly higher in the TSCC tissues than in the normal tissues (P<0.001). The expression level of microRNA-125b in the TSCC tissues was not significantly correlated with age, gender, pathological grade, and lymph node metastasis but was positively correlated with TNM stage. Patients with high TNM stage had high microRNA-125b expression levels (P<0.05). The ISH results showed that the expression levels of microRNA-125b in the TSCC tissues were 0.010±0.003, and that of normal tissues was 0.004±0.001. The expression levels of microRNA-125b in the 35 TSCC tissues were significantly higher than those in the normal tissues (P<0.05).

MicroRNA-125b is highly expressed in TSCC and associated with TNM stage, suggesting that high microRNA-125b expression may be involved in the development of TSCC.