The expression of miR-375 in prostate cancer: A study based on GEO, TCGA data and bioinformatics analysis

Background: MiR-375, as a member of miRNA family, plays essential roles in prostate cancer (PC). We purpose to explore the expression and possible molecular mechanism of the miR-375 in PC using database analysis.

Methods: First, Student's t-test, overall and subgroup meta-analyses with 20 eligible datasets in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were performed to explore the expression of miR-375 in PC. Then the results of meta-analyses were verified in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database by Student's t-test and Paired t-test. The candidate genes of miR-375 were predicted by four platforms. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed to investigate the potential molecular mechanism of miR-375 in PC.

Results: The overall meta-analysis showed the expression of miR-375 was significantly up-regulated in PC groups compared with non-cancerous group (SMD; 0.71; 95% CI: 0.38-1.04). In addition, the meta-analyses by subgroup showed the expression of miR-375 in PC tissues was higher than that in healthy prostate tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The results of TCGA database verified the expression of miR-375 in PC tissues was obviously higher than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Moreover, GO and KEGG analysis revealed that the latent target genes were mainly involved in protein binding function and ubiquitin mediated proteolysis. PPI analysis identified JAK2, EHMT1 and QKI as the hub genes (highly connected genes with high degree in PPI).

Conclusions: MiR-375 was up-regulated in PC tissues. Meanwhile, miR-375 may play an important role in aggressive PC by targeting its potential target genes.