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. 2018 Apr 10;9(27):18929-18938.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.24838.

Salivary microRNAs as new molecular markers in cleft lip and palate: a new frontier in molecular medicine

Vincenzo Grassia  1 , Angela Lombardi  2 , Hiromichi Kawasaki  2   3 , Carmela Ferri  2 , Letizia Perillo  1 , Laura Mosca  2 , Donatella Delle Cave  2 , Ludovica Nucci  1 , Marina Porcelli  2 , Michele Caraglia  2
Affiliations

Salivary microRNAs as new molecular markers in cleft lip and palate: a new frontier in molecular medicine

Vincenzo Grassia et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs of about twenty-two nucleotides that regulate gene expression through post-transcriptional control. The purpose of the present study was to identify and describe the salivary miRNAs in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients comparing them with a control healthy group. Twelve patients (mean age 11.9 ± 2.42 years; 6M/6F) formed the study group. The control group was created selecting twelve healthy subjects matched for age and sex with study group. We recorded differences in miRNA expression profile between the saliva of CLP patients and the control group. Specifically, miR-141, miR-223, and miR-324-3p were mostly deregulated between the study and control groups. Interestingly, these three miRNAs are the regulators of the following genes correlated to cleft palate and lip development: MTHFR, SATB2, PVRL1. The present study showed that collecting saliva samples is a non-invasive procedure and is well accepted by CLP patients. MiRNAs can be easily isolated and identified. The differences in regulation of miR-141, miR-223 and miR-324-3p between the two groups of salivary samples suggest that these molecules are valid prognostic biomarkers and therapy dynamic response indicators, also for the accuracy and non-invasive sampling and dosing system.

Keywords: CLP; MTHFR; PVRL1; SATB2; miRNAs.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Scatter plot of the expression of the 29 out of 131 different miRNAs found to be deregulated in the patients
The fold change was calculated respect to the average ΔCT value of control group. The error bars indicate the mean ± standard deviation (SD).
Figure 2
Figure 2. The expression of miR-141 in the saliva of 12 patients with CLP by RT- PCR as compared in the microarray card
The fold change was calculated respect to the average ΔCT value of control group. The error bars indicate the mean ± standard deviation (SD).
Figure 3
Figure 3. The expression of miR-223 in the saliva of 12 patients with CLP by RT- PCR as compared in the microarray card
The fold change was calculated respect to the average ΔCT value of control group. The error bars indicate the mean ± standard deviation (SD).
Figure 4
Figure 4. The expression of miR-324-3p in 6 patients by RT- PCR as compared in the microarray card
The mean increase of about 27.8 fold; in the remaining 6 patients its up regulation was of about 3.0 fold. (data no shown). The fold change was calculated respect to the average ΔCT value of control group. The error bars indicate the mean ± standard deviation (SD).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Heat map representation of the 29 out of 131 miRNAs found to be differentially expressed in patients and healthy subjects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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