The identification of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles associated with pediatric atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor

Background Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) is a malignant pediatric tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) with high recurrence and low survival rates that is often misdiagnosed. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the tumorigenesis of numerous pediatric cancers, but their roles in AT/RT remain unclear. Methods In this study, we used miRNA sequencing and gene expression microarrays from patient tissue to study both the miRNAome and transcriptome traits of AT/RT. Results Our findings demonstrate that 5 miRNAs were up-regulated, 16 miRNAs were down-regulated, 179 mRNAs were up-regulated and 402 mRNAs were down-regulated in AT/RT. qPCR revealed that hsa-miR-17-5p and MAP7 mRNA were the most significantly differentially expressed miRNA and mRNA in AT/RT tissues. Furthermore, the results from analyses using the miRTarBase database identified MAP7 mRNA as a target gene of hsa-miR-17-5p. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the dysregulation of hsa-miR-17-5p may be a pivotal event in AT/RT and miRNAs that may represent potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers.