Vergleichende miRNA-Analyse aus nativen Tumorgewebe, Primärkulturen und Liquid Biopsy von Meningeomen

Meningioma are often benign, but this is not always equivalent with the prognosis of a complete cure. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that represent promising biomarkers in Meningioma to classify treatment modalities.The miRNAs are not only located in cells and thus in the tumor but are also secreted into the blood. It is therefore of major interest to determine possible biomarkers e.g., in the form of miRNAs for meningioma to establish a tumor model system in relation to miRNAs using primary cell cultures. In addition, aberrations of chromosomal segments 22q11, 18q21, and 17p13 were determined, as these are also relevant to meningioma.

By real-time polymerase chain reaction, we investigated the expressions of four microRNA miRNA-21, miRNA-34a, miRNA-200a and miRNA-409 on native tumor tissue, primary cell cultures, and blood plasma of 20meningioma patients as well as in blood samples of 20 healthy individuals. The analysis of chromosomal aberrations of chromosomal segments 1p36, 14q24, and 17q22 was realized through FISH.

A strong negative correlation was found between miRNA 34a expression in the blood plasma of meningioma patients and the deletion of 1p36. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was detected between the 17p13 deletion and miRNA-34a expression in native tumor tissue. The primary cell culture is not suitable as a model system with respect to miRNAs. In contrast, miRNA-34a is a potential candidate to be used as a biomarker for 1p36 deletion due to the correlation between its expression in blood plasma and the loss of 1p36 in native tumor tissue.

MiRNA-34a is a promising candidate biomarker in meningioma, correlating with blood expression and loss of 1p36. In addition, MiRNA-34a correlates to its expression in native tumor tissue and to the loss of 17p13, which is linked to the tumor suppressor p53 and has been linked to recurrence.