Evaluation of the expression changes of LNC- MEG3 , miR-548d-3p, miR-21 in tumor samples and tumor margins of gastric cancer (GC)

Abstract

The functional role of MEG3 in gastric cancer cells remains unclear, and few studies have simultaneously examined this gene and its associated microRNAs in clinical gastric samples. It appears that investigating the mechanism by which MEG3 prevents gastric cancer progression is a topic deserving of further study. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the simultaneous expression of MEG3, miR-548d-3p, and miR-21 in gastric cancer clinical samples, analyzing their changes in cancer and the potential correlation between the expression of these three genes. Methods: In this study, 100 tumor tissue samples and 100 tumor margin samples were analyzed, all collected from patients during their surgical procedures. The changes in gene expression were evaluated in relation to each other and the clinical findings of the patients. RNA was extracted using Trizol, cDNA was synthesized, and Real-Time PCR was performed. Statistical analysis was then carried out, and gene expression normalization was achieved using the internal control gene expression levels. Results: The results indicate that the expression of LNC-MEG3 is significantly reduced in gastric cancer tumor tissue, while its expression is higher in the tumor margin, suggesting a tumor-suppressive role for this gene. A weak negative correlation between LNC-MEG3 and miR-21 expression was observed. Furthermore, the expression of miR-21 and miR-548d-3p was significantly higher in tumor tissue than in the margin tissue, suggesting a potential role for these miRNAs in tumor progression. Diagnostic performance evaluation revealed that the area under the ROC curve for miR-21 and miR-548d-3p was 0.61 and 0.63, respectively, both indicating significant statistical importance in gastric cancer diagnosis.