Expression profile of oncomiRs and tumor-suppressor miRs in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

Introduction & Objectives: Micro-RNAs are small, regulatory molecules approximately 21-24 nucleotides in length. They function at the post-transcriptional level by controlling the expression of more than 50% of human protein-coding genes and play an essential role in cell signaling pathways. Our goal was explore the expression profile of oncomiRs and tumor-suppressor miRs, and to define their possible correlations in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (BC). Materials & Methods: Seventy-seven primary BCs, along with 77 matched tumor-associated normal samples were investigated for the expression of 12 micro-RNAs using qPCR. Relationships between the expression of miR-10b, miR19a, miR19b, miR-21, miR-122a, miR-145_1, miR-205_1, miR-210, miR-221, miR-222, miR-378-1 and miR-296-5p and the pathologic features of the tumors were also examined. Results: The majority of the micro-RNAs exhibited down-regulation in BC vs. normal tissue [miR-10b (p=0.0007), miR-19a (p=0.012), miR-19b (p=0.0361), miR-126_1 (p=0.0021), miR-145_1 (p