MicroRNA-21Expression In Cholangiocarcinoma And The Relationship Between Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition

Cholangiocarcinoma（CCA）is a highly malignant tumor derived from bile ductepithelial cells.Its represents10%to15%of the total hepatobiliary tumors and itsincidence andmortality are increasing worldwide.Most patients with bile duct cancer arediagnosed when the disease is advanced, the overall prognosis is poor, usually onlysurvive for several years.Only radical resection can make patients get cured.Butpostoperative tumor recurrence rate is very high, which also often associated with tumorinvasion and metastasis.MicroRNAs are a class of naturally occurring small non-codingRNAs that control gene expression by targeting mRNAs for translational repression orcleavage.multiple studies showing in microRNA-21may play an important role in manycancer-related processes such as apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis.Detection theexpression of microRNA-21,E-cadherin and N-cadherin et al in cholangiocarcinoma byin situ hybridization,qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.The relationship of theexpression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis ofcholangiocarcinoma was analyzed.Furthermore,we evaluated whether or notmicroRNA-21as a biomarker for earlier diagnosis and predicting the survival ofcholangiocarcinoma patients.Objective To investigate the expression of microRNA-21and epithelial-mesenchymaltransition (EMT) related markers in cholangiocarcinoma tissues and its relation withclinicopathological factors.Further,we explore microRNA-21whether has a certainrelationship with EMT.Method cholangiocarcinoma and adjacent tissues from41patients withcholangiocarcinoma were collected from January2005to January2010at the AffiliatedProvincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University.Detection the expression of microRNA-21,E-cadherin and N-cadherin etal in cholangiocarcinoma by in situhybridization,qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.The relationship of the expressionwith clinicopathological characteristics,prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma and EMT wasanalyzed.All data were analyzed using x2test,survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier andLog-rank test.Results High expression rates of microRNA-21in cholangiocarcinoma tissue wasdramatically higher than that in the adjacent tissues(63.4%vs30%, P<0.05).microRNA-21expressions was significantly higher in tumors showing in tumordifferentiation degree,lymph node metastasis, perineural invasion （P<0.05).It hasnothing to do with others factor,such as gender, age, tumor location, tumortype(P>0.05).qRT-PCR data for microRNA-21chould validate In situ hybridizationfindings.N-cadherin and E-cadherin et al expression was significantly higher in tumorsshowing in lymph node metastasis, perineural invasion(P<0.05).It has nothing to dowith others factor,such as gender,age,tumor location, tumor type, tumor differentiationdegree(P>0.05).The results showed that a positive correlation between the expression ofmicroRNA-21and epithelial-mesenchymal transition related markers(r=0.373，0.614，6.617，0.264，P<0.05).Postoperative follow-up shows:The level of microRNA-21expression and postoperative survival in patients with a certain correlation(P<0.05).Conclusion microRNA-21overexpression in cholangiocarcinoma may accelerateinvasion of cholangiocarcinoma through induced EMT.which chould be of potential roleas a prognostic indicator for clinical assessment of CCA.