Complexity in Regulation of MicroRNA Machinery Components in Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Altered expression of microRNA (miRNA) machinery components may play an important role in cervical cancer progression. The objective of current study was to evaluate Drosha, the DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8), Dicer, and Argonaute 2 (AGO2) mRNA expression in cervical cancer. By using quantitative real-time PCR, mRNA expression levels of the four miRNA machinery components were examined in 31 cervical cancer tissues and adjacent histologically non-neoplastic tissues. In the present study, mRNA expression levels of major miRNA machinery components were variable among cervical cancer tissues. The altered mRNA expression levels of AGO2 and DGCR8 were positively correlated with each other. For the first time, this study revealed that the positive correlation between altered mRNA expression levels of each miRNA machinery components in cervical cancer tissues.