Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2015) 37 EP669 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.37.EP669

1Endocrinology Department, Hospital General Universitario Alicante, Alicante, Spain; 2Endocrinology Department, Hospital General Universitario Albacete, Albacete, Spain; 3Endocrinology Department, Hospital La Ribera, Alzira, Spain; 4Endocrinology Department, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, Spain; 5Research Unit, Hospital General Universitario Alicante, Alicante, Spain; 6Neurosurgery Department, Hospital General Universitario Alicante, Alicante, Spain; 7Otorhinolaryngology Department, Hospital General Universitario Alicante, Alicante, Spain; 8Neurosurgery Department, Hospital La Ribera, Alzira, Spain.


Purpose: IGF receptor 1 (IGF1R) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are receptors tyrosine-kinase (RTK) whose altered signaling are critical factors in development of many types of tumours. These RTK are some of the main targets of the microRNA miR-7. This important tumor supressor miRNA has the ability to inhibit the motility, invasiveness and anchorage-independent growth, suggesting a strong therapeutic potential in many types of cancer. Pituitary adenomas (PA) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with diverse clinical behaviour. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of this miRNA in the behaviour of different PA subtypes.

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, we evaluated miR-7 by qRT-PCR on 60 human PA: 29 gonadotrophs (GT), 15 somatotrophs (ST), eight functioning corticotroph (CT), and eight silent corticotroph adenomas (SCA). Nine healthy pituitary from autopsies were used as calibrator reference. Aggressiveness was graded according to invasiveness (Hardy’s grade IV) and Ki-67 gene expression (>2.59-fold change (FC)).

Results: MiR-7 showed different expression depending on PA subtype (P=0.005). Its highest expression was found in ST (5.21 (2.06–5.80) FC), in which miR-7 was mainly overexpressed and only repressed in 33% of ST with high grade of aggressiveness. Thus, miR-7 repression entailed a risk of 7 (2–25) times higher to ST tumours reached high grade of aggressiveness (P=0.038). In addition, miR-7 was negatively correlated with age (r=−0.583, P=0.022). In GT and SCA, expression was similar (0.91 (0.46–4.70) and 0.80 (0.26–3.18) FC respectively) and in CT, miR-7 showed its lower expression (0.69 (0.31–1.32) FC). However, we did not find associations with their behaviours.

Conclusion: According with our results, miR-7 plays an important role in the behaviour on ST, acting as tumor supressor miRNA and participating against its aggressiveness. Further studies are needed to clarify its potential therapeutic utility.

Disclosure: This work was supported by FISABIO (FCVI-HGUA-2012-C01).

Article tools

My recent searches

No recent searches.