Study of the effect of omega-3 fatty acid DHA on the expression of angiogenetic genes and MiRs controlling their expression in colorectal cancer

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major health problems of this age and comprise a great part of all disease morbidity and mortality. Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is the third common malignancy and the forth cause of death of cancer in the world. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid with long chain and very unsaturated that previous studies showed its unique role in many disease including cancer. The SIRT-1 and VEGF gene and miR-135a and miR-34a are angiogenetic factors that previous studies showed their influencing effect in tumor progression and aggression. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of genes and miRs that control angiogenesis after treatment with DHA in colorectal cancer.

Material and Methods: Colorectal cancer HT29 cell line was cultured and treated with DHA. After 24 hours, RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthetized. Expression of SIRT-1 and VEGF genes and their controlling miRNAs after treatment with DHA was measured by qRT-PCR.

Results: The qRT-PCR test revealed the expression level of SIRT-1, VEGF, miR-135a and miR-34a after treatment with DHA and control group and showed that the expression of SIRT-1 and level of miR-135a and miR-34a was increased in camparison to control group. In addition, the expression of VEGF in camparison to control group was decreased after treatment with DHA.