Submitted August 7, 2007
Accepted December 5, 2007
Gene alteration, pre- and mature micro RNA changes contribute to the miRNA signature of Primary Effusion Lymphoma (PEL)
Andrea O'Hara, Wolfgang Vahrson, and Dirk P Dittmer*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehansive Cancer Center, Center for AIDS Research & Curriculum in Genetics & the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Genedata AG, Basel, Switzerland
* Corresponding author; email: ddittmer{at}med.unc.edu.
MicroRNAs are regulated by gene alteration, transcription and processing. Thus far few studies have simultaneously assessed all three levels of regulation. Using real-time QPCR-based arrays we determined changes in gene copy number, pre-miRNA and mature miRNAs levels for the largest set of primary effusion lymphomas (PEL) to date. We detected PEL-specific miRNA gene amplifications, and concordant changes in pre- and mature miRNAs. We identified 68 PEL specific miRNAs. This defines the miRNA signature of PEL and shows that transcriptional regulation of pre-miRNAs as well as mature miRNA levels contribute non-redundant information that can be used for the classification of human tumors.
