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Clinical Trial
. 2014:2014:864894.
doi: 10.1155/2014/864894. Epub 2014 May 18.

Expression of serum exosomal microRNA-21 in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Hongwei Wang  1 , Lijuan Hou  1 , Aihui Li  1 , Yuxiu Duan  1 , Haili Gao  1 , Xinwen Song  1
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Expression of serum exosomal microRNA-21 in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Hongwei Wang et al. Biomed Res Int. 2014.

Abstract

New strategies for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are urgently needed. There is an increasing interest in using microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers in diseases. In this study, we examined the expression of miR-21 in serum exosomes from patients with HCC or chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and investigated the potential clinical significance of miR-21. Quantitative RT-PCR indicated that the concentration of miR-21 was significantly higher in exosomes than in exosome-depleted supernatants or the whole serum. Further, the expression level of serum exosomal miR-21 was significantly higher in patients with HCC than those with CHB or healthy volunteers (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, resp.). High level of miR-21 expression correlated with cirrhosis (P = 0.024) and advanced tumor stage (P = 0.001). Although serum level of miR-21 was higher in patients with HCC than in patients with CHB and healthy volunteers, the sensitivity of detection is much lower than using exosomal miR-21. These findings indicate that miR-21 is enriched in serum exosomes which provides increased sensitivity of detection than whole serum. Exosomal miR-21 may serve as a potential biomarker for HCC diagnosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Validation of exosomes isolated from serum samples. (a) Morphological characterization of exosomes isolated from serum samples by transmission electron microscopy. Bar, 100 nm. (b) Expression of exosomal protein markers (CD63 and TSG101) in exosomes isolated from serum samples was assessed by Western blot analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Serum exosomal miR-21 expression is significantly higher in HCC patients. (a) Serum miR-21 predominantly exists in exosomes. miR-21 levels in serum exosomes, exosome-depleted supernatants, and whole serum were determined by qRT-PCR. The absolute Ct values are presented. (b) The miR-21 levels in exosomes or whole serum samples from 30 patients with HCC, 30 patients with CHB, and 30 healthy controls were determined by qRT-PCR. *P < 0.001; **P < 0.0001.
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