Influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in pri-miR-124-1 and STAT3 genes on gastric cancer susceptibility

ABSTRACT

Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small ribonucleic acids that modulate the expression of downstream target genes. There is considerable evidence of their involvement in many malignancies, such as oesophageal and gastric. We hypothesised altered expressions of pri-miR-124-1 rs531564 and STAT3 rs1053023 polymorphisms in gastric cancer.

Materials and methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 250 patients with gastric cancer and 310 healthy individuals. The RFLP method was applied for determination of pri-miR-124 polymorphism and the AS-PCR method for STAT3 polymorphism.

Results: The distribution of rs531564 genotypes in cases and controls was different: the G allele carriers had a reduced gastric cancer risk (OR = 0.62; 95%CI = 0.49–0.80, P = 0.0002). Presence of the minor allele of STAT3 (rs1053023) was linked with higher risk of gastric cancer (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.79–2.93, P < 0.0001). Compared with the most frequent haplotype C-G [the SNP order was pri-miR-124-1 (rs531564) and STAT3 (rs1053023)] in controls, C-A haplotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (OR = 2.28; 95%CI = 1.64–3.09, P < 0.0001).

Conclusion: There is a strong link between pri-miR-124-1 rs531564 and STAT3 rs1053023 and gastric cancer that may be pathogenic, and so worthy of further investigation.

KEYWORDS:

• Gastric cancer
• pri-miR-124-1
• STAT3
• gene polymorphism

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank people who participated in this study and everyone at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Guilan, for their help. This study was partly supported by the University of Guilan.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.