Microarray analysis of microRNA expression in liver cancer tissues and normal control.

BACKGROUND: Recently, many studies have focused on microRNAs (miRNAs) expression profiling in liver cancer, due to the ability of these small RNAs to potently influence cellular behavior. In this study, to further investigate the relationship between them, the miRNA expression profiling of the cancer liver tissues and normal liver tissues were compared.

METHODS: The datasets of miRNAs microarray in liver cancer and normal control were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Then the SOAP analysis was performed to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs.

RESULTS: A total of 221 differentially expressed miRNAs were found. Five of them (including hsa-miR-15b, hsa-miR-1975, hsa-miR-199a-3p, hsa-miR-199b-3p and hsa-miR-421) were determined by t-test and may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver cancer.

CONCLUSION: There differentially expressed miRNAs may be potential molecular markers for liver cancer screening.