Abstract
BACKGROUND: Impaired levels of surviving are associate with increased survival of tumor cells. In this study, we intended to profile the microRNAs (miRNAs) targeting survivin in the tumoral and marginal tissues obtained from Iranian patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty CRC patients of Iranian Azari ethnicity were recruited. The RNA content of the tumoral and marginal tissues was isolated and the transcript levels of miR-34a, miR-16, miR-150, and miR-203a and survivin were determined through quantitative Real-time PCR. RESULTS: The mRNA expression of survivin was significantly increased (fold change = 3.21, P = 0.0029) in the tumoral tissues in comparison to the marginal tissues. There was significant downregulation of miR-16 (fold change = 0.28, P = 0.003) and miR-203a (fold change = 0.36, P = 0.014) in the tumoral samples in comparison to marginal samples. There was an inverse significant correlation (rho = -0.81; P < 0.001) between the expression of miR-203a and mRNA expression of survivin in the tumoral tissues of CRC patients. The mRNA expression of survivin was higher significantly in the tumoral tissues of CRC patients with lymph node metastasis in comparison to those without lymph node metastasis (P = 0.020). In addition, there was a significantly higher miR-203 expression level in the tumoral tissues of CRC patients with lymph node metastasis in comparison to those without lymph node metastasis (P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: It is suggested that miR-203 plays an oncogenic role in CRC cancer by regulating survivin and lymph node metastasis.