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  • C12Q2600/00—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use
  • C12Q2600/178—Oligonucleotides characterized by their use miRNA, siRNA or ncRNA

Definitions

• Hepatocellular carcinoma represents an extremely poor prognostic cancer that remains one of the most common and aggressive human malignancies worldwide (1 ; 2).
• the dismal outcome has been attributed to the major hallmarks of HCC, intra-hepatic metastases or post-surgical recurrence.
• New tumor colonies frequently invade into the major branches of the portal vein and possibly other parts of the liver (3-6).
• Resection or liver transplantation are the best options for a potential cure however, only about 20 percent of HCC patients, defined by parameters of relatively normal liver function and a manageable tumor lesion as determined by the available clinical staging systems, are currently eligible for surgical intervention.
• resected patients often have a high frequency of metastasis/recurrence, and post-operative 5 year survival is only 30-40 percent.
• HCC Liver transplantation for HCC patients remains controversial due to a shortage of organ donors and the poor performance of current staging systems in selecting appropriate candidates, especially at early disease stages. These systems are essential, particularly in malignant diseases, to provide advice to patients and guidance for assessment and treatment.
• Clinical evaluation and therapeutic decisions in HCC is complex because they depend on both the grade of cancer spread (tumor staging) and residual liver function (chronic liver disease stage).
• tumor staging tumor staging
• chronic liver disease stage chronic liver disease stage
• miRNAs RNA gene products (-22nt) known as microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) is a superior method for cancer subtype classification and prognostication (17-19).
• miRNAs exist in many organisms and play key regulatory roles in mRNA translation and degradation by base pairing to partially complementary sites of the mRNA, predominantly in the 3' untranslated region (20-22). miRNAs are expressed as long precursor RNAs that are processed by Drosha, a cellular nuclease, and subsequently transported to the cytoplasm by an Exportin-5 -dependent mechanism (23; 24). miRNAs are then cleaved by the DICER enzyme, resulting in — 17-24 nt miRNAs that associate with a RNA-induced silencing-like complex (25; 26).
• miRNA expression profiling can be utilized as a tool for cancer diagnosis (17; 40).
• a unique miRNA signature that can significantly distinguish HCC venous metastasis from metastasis-free HCC.
• this signature is capable of predicting survival and recurrence of HCC patients with multinodular or solitary tumors, including those with early-stage disease.
• this signature is an independent and significant predictor of patient prognosis and relapse when compared to other available clinical parameters.
• This miRNA signature is useful to enable HCC prognosis and has clinical utility for the advance identification of HCC patients with a propensity towards metastasis/recurrence.
• HCC chronic hepatocellular carcinoma
• kits for diagnosing whether a subject has, or is at risk for developing, HCC comprising measuring the level of at least one miR gene product in a test sample from the subject, wherein an alteration in the level of the miR gene product in the test sample, relative to the level of a corresponding miR gene product in a control sample, is indicative of the subject either having, or being at risk for developing, HCC.
• the level of the at least one miR gene product can be measured using a variety of techniques that are well-known to those of skill in the art. In one embodiment, the level of the at least one miR gene product is measured using Northern blot analysis. In another embodiment, the level of the at least one miR gene product in the test sample is less than the level of the corresponding miR gene product in the control sample. Also, in another embodiment, the level of the at least one miR gene product in the test sample can be greater than the level of the corresponding miR gene product in the control sample.
• the level of the at least one miR gene product is measured by reverse transcribing RNA from a test sample obtained from the subject to provide a set of target oligodeoxynucleotides; hybridizing the target oligodeoxynucleotides to a microarray comprising miRNA-specif ⁇ c probe oligonucleotides to provide a hybridization profile for the test sample; and, comparing the test sample hybridization profile to a hybridization profile generated from a control sample.
• An alteration in the signal of at least one miRNA is indicative of the subject either having, or being at risk for developing, HCC.
• a microarray comprises miRNA-specific probe oligonucleotides for one or more miRNAs selected from one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11, and, in particular certain embodiments, one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4].
• the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one isolated miR gene product, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited.
• the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one compound for inhibiting expression of at least one miR gene product, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited.
• the at least one isolated miR gene product is selected miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6] and miR124A and combinations thereof.
• Also provided herein are methods of treating HCC in a subject comprising: determining the amount of at least one miR gene product in HCC cells, relative to control cells; and, altering the amount of miR gene product expressed in the HCC cells by: administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one isolated miR gene product, if the amount of the miR gene product expressed in the cancer cells is less than the amount of the miR gene product expressed in control cells; or administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one compound for inhibiting expression of the at least one miR gene product, if the amount of the miR gene product expressed in the cancer cells is greater than the amount of the miR gene product expressed in control cells, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited, hi certain embodiments, at least one isolated miR gene product is selected from the group consisting of miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6] and miR124A, and combinations thereof.
• compositions for treating HCC comprising at least one isolated miR gene product and a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier.
• the pharmaceutical compositions comprise at least one isolated miR gene product corresponds to a miR gene product that is down-regulated in HCC cells relative to suitable control cells.
• the pharmaceutical composition comprises at least one miR expression regulator (for example, an inhibitor) compound and a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier.
• miR expression regulator for example, an inhibitor
• compositions that include at least one miR expression regulator compound that is specific for a miR gene product that is up- or down-regulated in HCC cells relative to suitable control cells.
• Also provided herein are methods of identifying an anti-HCC agent comprising providing a test agent to a cell and measuring the level of at least one miR gene product associated with decreased expression levels in HCC cells, wherein an increase in the level of the miR gene product in the cell, relative to a suitable control cell, is indicative of the test agent being an anti-HCC agent.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR- 219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4].
• Also provided herein are methods of identifying an anti-HCC agent comprising providing a test agent to a cell and measuring the level of at least one miR gene product associated with increased expression levels in HCC cells, wherein a decrease in the level of the miR gene product in the cell, relative to a suitable control cell, is indicative of the test agent being an anti-HCC agent.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4].
• FIGURE 1 Schematic of the search for a miRNA signature that can predict HCC prognosis.
• FIGURE 2 Significant differentially expressed miRNAs in metastatic vs non-metastatic liver tissues from HCC patients.
• Pseudocolors indicate transcript levels below, equal, or above the mean (green, black and red, respectively).
• the scale represents the gene expression ratios from -4 to 4 in log 2 scale.
• FIG. 2B Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of metastasis and non-metastasis samples based on prediction outcome of the 20 miRNAs.
• FIGURE 3 Analysis of the classification capacity of the 20-miRNA or 4- miRNA signature in the testing cohort or early-stage HCC.
• FIGURE 4 Table 1 showing the clinical characteristics of patients for
• FIGURE 5 Table 2 showing univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival and recurrences (TMM stage I and II).
• FIGURE 6 Table 3 - Summary of 20 micro RNAs with a prognostic value to predict HCC survival/
• FIGURE 7 Table 4 - Clinical staging of the poorly-defined set.
• FIGURE 8 Table 5 - Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival and recurrence (BCLC Stage 0 and A).
• FIGURE 9 Table 6 - Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with survival and recurrence.
• FIGURE 10 Analysis of the classification capacity of staging systems in the testing cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of 110 HCC patients based on predicted classification by (FIG. 10A) TNM staging (FIGL 10B) OKUDA staging (FIG. 10C) CLIP staging or (FIG. 10D) BCLC staging.
• FIGURE 11 A table containing a set of 22 miRN As useful for predicting
• HCC [SEQ ID NOS: 1-22].
• an miRNA is derived from genomic sequences or a gene.
• the term "gene” is used for simplicity to refer to the genomic sequence encoding the precursor miRNA for a given miRNA.
• embodiments of the invention may involve genomic sequences of a miRNA that are involved in its expression, such as a promoter or other regulatory sequences.
• miRNA generally refers to a single-stranded molecule, but in specific embodiments, molecules implemented in the invention will also encompass a region or an additional strand that is partially (between 10 and 50% complementary across length of strand), substantially (greater than 50% but less than 100% complementary across length of strand) or fully complementary to another region of the same single- stranded molecule or to another nucleic acid.
• nucleic acids may encompass a molecule that comprises one or more complementary or self-complementary strand(s) or "complement(s)" of a particular sequence comprising a molecule.
• precursor miRNA may have a self-complementary region, which is up to 100% complementary miRNA probes of the invention can be or be at least 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, or 100% complementary to their target.
• A, B, C, or combinations thereof refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.
• A, B, C, or combinations thereof is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, ACB, CBA, BCA, BAC, or CAB.
• MicroRNAs are transcripts of a new class of small noncoding
• RNA genes that are able to distinguish several types of aggressive cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), from their normal counterparts.
• HCC patients have a very poor prognosis due to high rate of metastasis, and current staging systems are not capable of accurately determining patient prognosis, especially at early stages of this disease.
• the inventors investigated whether unique miRNAs are associated with prognosis and metastases in HCC.
• the inventors examined the miRNA expression profiles of 490 specimens from radical resection of 244 HCC patients.
• the inventors discovered a unique miRNA signature based on 134 clinically well-defined metastatic and non-metastatic HCC specimens.
• the unique signature was used to predict the prognostic outcomes of a 110 independent HCC specimens.
• the miRNA signature composed of 20 unique oligonucleotides can significantly discriminate (p ⁇ 0.001) 30 primary HCC tissues with venous metastases from 104 metastasis-free solitary HCC with cross validation in a training cohort. However, significant miRNAs could not be identified from the corresponding non-cancerous hepatic tissues.
• the tumor metastasis miRNA signature was a significant predictor of patient survival (p ⁇ 0.0023) and recurrence (p-0.002) is 89 early stage HCC.
• a refined signature composed of 4 selected miRNAs had a similar prediction power.
• high miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20] and miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18] and low miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6] and miR-124a [SEQ ID NO: 4] expression correlated with venous metastases and poor survival.
• Cox proportional hazards modeling also revealed that this signature was superior to other clinical variables, including the known staging systems, for predicting patient survival.
• the unique miRNA signature is useful for HCC prognosis, particularly in patients whose outcome is hard to predict by conventional staging systems.
• the examples herein show that measurement of certain miRNA levels in HCC have clinical utility for the advance identification of patients who are likely to develop metastases and subsequently classify them for appropriate treatment.
• Hepatic tissues were obtained with informed consent from patients who underwent radical resection between 2002 and 2003 at the Liver Cancer Institute and Zhongshan Hospital (Fudan University, Shanghai, China). The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Liver Cancer Institute and NIH. Gene expression profiles were conducted in primary HCC and corresponding noncancerous hepatic tissues from 244 Chinese HCC patients. Among them, 93% had underlying cirrhosis and 68% had a serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level > 20 ng/ml ( Figure 4 - Table 1).
• AFP serum alpha-fetoprotein
• FIG. 1 The general strategy for partitioning cases and testing the miRNA signature is outlined in Figure 1.
• the testing cases included 43 multinodular and 67 solitary HCC. Of the 43 multinodular HCC cases, 18 developed intrahepatic recurrence and one developed extrahepatic metastasis in addition to an intrahepatic recurrence. Of the 67 solitary HCC cases, 4 patients had a solitary tumor with an appearance of aggregated nodules, 10 developed intra- and/or extrahepatic metastases while 49 developed intrahepatic recurrence confirmed at follow-up (3yr). In addition, eight normal liver tissues from disease-free patients [described in (16)] were included as normal controls.
• RNA isolation and miRNA arrays are identical to RNA isolation and miRNA arrays.
• RNA isolation and miRNA array methodology were essentially as previously described (13; 17). In the analysis of the 244 HCC cases, RNA was isolated in a pairwise fashion from tumor or non-tumor tissue and samples were selected in random order for miRNA analysis to avoid grouping bias. A total of 488 microarrays were performed (see Example II).
• miRNAs could not be identified when a comparison of these tissues was made with other clinical variables including multinodular status, microvascular invasion and 4 clinical staging systems (data not shown). Therefore, the expression of certain miRNAs appeared to correlate with metastasis only when macrovascular invasion was evident. Of the 20 miRNAs, 4 were overexpressed in M while 16 were overexpressed in NM.
• the clinical staging systems were incapable of predicting overall or disease-free survival in this cohort ( Figure 5 - Table 2).
• the miRNA signature identified is a superior predictor of HCC patient outcome, particularly for early stage disease.
• the clinical HCC staging systems were not capable of predicting patient prognosis and relapse within the testing cohort ( Figure 5 - Table 2 and Figure 8 - Table 5).
• the miRNA signature is an independent predictor for both survival and relapse.
• HCC patients A majority of HCC patients are diagnosed at a late stage and only a small percentage fit resection or transplantation criteria. The outcome of HCC patients has been less than satisfactory, largely due to the lack of a simple, validated and universal clinical staging system with robust predictive power, especially for early stage patients and for those with solitary or multinodular HCC that eventually metastasize or recur. Thus, a key challenge to improving HCC patient outcome is early detection and classification.
• the inventors have shown that the expression of 20 miRNAs, or even 4 miRNAs, can significantly predict the survival of HCC patients with solitary or multinodular tumors who develop metastasis/recurrence and can effectively do so in HCC patients with relatively small tumors who were at an early stage of this disease. In contrast, the clinical HCC staging systems were unable to distinguish the outcome of these patients.
• miRNAs can be used to provide a higher accuracy in subtype classification and the examples herein show a superior ability to distinguish classically poor-to-predict HCC patient cohorts, grouping patients according to their miRNA signature expression may have clinical utility.
• the advance identification of poor prognosis patients (M) by the miRNA signature may allow for more personalized, directed or aggressive treatment regimens than patients classified in the good prognosis group (NM).
• the miRNAs and/or the miRNA signature may also be used for prioritizing
• Another advantage is that, for optimum clinical use and potentially more efficient diagnosis, it would be appropriate to have a minimum number of genes that can discriminate patients who are likely to develop more aggressive forms of the disease.
• the inventors have demonstrated that as few as 4 miRNAs are capable of significantly discriminating HCC patients who have a poor outcome. Thus, these miRNAs are promising tools that may facilitate HCC diagnosis, particularly for early stage patients, and allow for appropriate clinical counsel and treatment.
• the miRNAs and/or Mir signature can be also useful to identify candidate miRNA targets that are differentially expressed in patients who develop metastases/recurrence.
• these miRNAs are useful to provide insight into the biological consequence of miRNA alteration in HCC.
• the miRNAs and/or miR signature is also useful to develop and/ or serve as therapeutic targets to reverse the potential outcome of patients with a poor prognostic signature defined by miRNA classification.
• miRNAs and/or miR signature is useful in developing methods and/or compositions to reverse the course of the disease. Such reversion possibilities may occur, for example, through gene therapy options to alter the expression of miRNAs or their targets.
• Other non-limiting examples include inactivation of oncogenic phenotypes by synthetic antisense oligonucleotides, generation of specific inhibitors to abrogate miRNA/target gene interaction or overexpression of tumor suppressive phenotypes using viral or liposomal delivery.
• the miRNAs and/or miR signature are useful for the early diagnosis and associated interventional treatment and can be used to change the rather fatalistic approach to HCC.
• the miRNA signature disclosed herein can thus be used to classify HCC patients at an early stage, enabling their diagnosis and improving clinical outcome.
• the sample enrollment criteria included those with a history of hepatitis B virus HBV infection or HBV-related liver cirrhosis, HCC diagnosed by two independent pathologists, detailed information on clinical presentation and pathological characteristics; and detailed follow-up data for at least 3 years, which included intrahepatic recurrence, intrahepatic venous metastasis, lymph node involvement, extrahepatic metastases, disease- free and overall survival, as well as the cause of death.
• TNM stage I and II early stage patients
• TNM stage I and II early stage patients
• the inventors also performed Cox proportional hazards modeling based on early stage patients categorized by BCLC (Stage 0 and A).
• the miRNA microarray platform (V 2.0) was composed of 250 non- redundant human and 200 mouse miRNAs and arrays were performed at the Microarray Shared Resource, Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Ohio State University. To examine the robustness of the miRNA array platform, the inventors first analyzed whether miRNA expression can differentiate 244 HCC tissues from their paired surrounding noncancerous hepatic tissues ( Figure 4 - Table 6).
• Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze the effect of clinical variables on patient overall and relapse-free survival, including age, sex, HBV active status, pre-resection alphafetoprotein (AFP), cirrhosis, alanine transferase (ALT), Child-Pugh score, tumor size, tumor encapsulation, nodular type, the status of microvascular invasion, Edmondson grade and several HCC prognosis staging systems including BCLC staging (3), CLIP classification (4), Okuda staging (5), or TNM classification (AJCC/UICC, 6th edition) (6).
• a multivariate analysis was performed to estimate the hazards ratio of the miRNA predictor while controlling for clinical variables identified from a stepwise selection process using both forward addition and backwards selection routines with significance set at p ⁇ 0.05. Furthermore, the hazards ratio for the miRNA predictor alone was compared to the hazards ratio for the miRNA predictor with each of the clinical variables. If a 10% change in the hazards ratio of the predictor was observed with the addition of a single covariate, this variable was controlled for in the final Cox proportional hazards model.
• the most parsimonious survival model included the 20 miRNA predictor, tumor size, multinodular status and TNM staging while the most parsimonious recurrence model included the 20 miRNA predictor, multinodular status,
• the most parsimonious survival model included the 20 miRNA predictor, AFP, cirrhosis, tumor size, multinodular status, microvascular invasion and TNM staging while the most parsimonious recurrence model included the 20 miRNA predictor, tumor size, multinodular status and TNM staging.
• the inventors restricted the search by focusing on potential miRNA targets that were part of the 153-gene HCC tumor signature of venous metastases identified recently (7) and had a low FDR score ( ⁇ 0.3).
• the inventors further limited output to only those potential cellular targets whose expression in metastatic HCC was inversely correlated with that of the corresponding miRNA.
• a summary of these host targets based on the search criteria described above is included in Figure 6 - Table 3.
• Figure 10 shows an analysis of the classification capacity of staging systems in the testing cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of 110 HCC patients based on predicted classification by (A) TNM staging (B) OKUDA staging (C) CLIP staging or
• a method of diagnosing whether a subject has, or is at risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
• the method generally includes measuring the level of at least one miR gene product in a test sample from the subject and determining whether an alteration in the level of the miR gene product in the test sample, relative to the level of a corresponding miR gene product in a control sample, is indicative of the subject either having, or being at risk for developing,
• the level of the at least one miR gene product is measured using Northern blot analysis. Also, in certain embodiments, the level of the at least one miR gene product in the test sample is less than the level of the corresponding miR gene product in the control sample, and/or the level of the at least one miR gene product in the test sample is greater than the level of the corresponding miR gene product in the control sample.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 20]
• the level of the at least one miR gene product can be measured by reverse transcribing RNA from a test sample obtained from the subject to provide a set of target oligodeoxynucleotides; hybridizing the target oligodeoxynucleotides to a microarray comprising miRNA-specific probe oligonucleotides to provide a hybridization profile for the test sample; and, comparing the test sample hybridization profile to a hybridization profile generated from a control sample.
• An alteration in the signal of at least one miRNA is indicative of the subject either having, or being at risk for developing, HCC.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 20]
• the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one isolated miR gene product, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited.
• the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one compound for inhibiting expression of at least one miR gene product, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited.
• the at least one isolated miR gene product is selected miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6] and miR124A and combinations thereof.
• Also provided herein are methods of treating HCC in a subject comprising: determining the amount of at least one miR gene product in HCC cells, relative to control cells; and, altering the amount of miR gene product expressed in the HCC cells by: administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one isolated miR gene product, if the amount of the miR gene product expressed in the cancer cells is less than the amount of the miR gene product expressed in control cells; or administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one compound for inhibiting expression of the at least one miR gene product, if the amount of the miR gene product expressed in the cancer cells is greater than the amount of the miR gene product expressed in control cells, such that proliferation of cancer cells in the subject is inhibited.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR- 219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207[SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4] and combinations thereof.
• compositions for treating HCC comprising at least one isolated miR gene product and a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier.
• the pharmaceutical compositions comprise at least one isolated miR gene product corresponds to a miR gene product that is down-regulated in HCC cells relative to suitable control cells.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4].
• the pharmaceutical composition comprises at least one miR expression regulator (for example, an inhibitor) compound and a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier.
• miR expression regulator for example, an inhibitor
• compositions that include at least one miR expression regulator compound that is specific for a miR gene product that is up- or down-regulated in HCC cells relative to suitable control cells.
• methods of identifying an anti-HCC agent comprising providing a test agent to a cell and measuring the level of at least one miR gene product associated with decreased expression levels in HCC cells, wherein an increase in the level of the miR gene product in the cell, relative to a suitable control cell, is indicative of the test agent being an anti-HCC agent.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR- 219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4] and combinations thereof.
• Also provided herein are methods of identifying an anti-HCC agent comprising providing a test agent to a cell and measuring the level of at least one miR gene product associated with increased expression levels in HCC cells, wherein a decrease in the level of the miR gene product in the cell, relative to a suitable control cell, is indicative of the test agent being an anti-HCC agent, hi a particular embodiment, the miR gene product is selected from the group consisting of miR-219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207 [SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6] and miR124A and combinations thereof. [00127] EXAMPLE VII
• kits for isolating miRNA, labeling miRNA, and/or evaluating an miRNA population using an array are included in a kit.
• the kit may further include reagents for creating or synthesizing miRNA probes.
• the kits will thus comprise, in suitable container means, an enzyme for labeling the miRNA by incorporating labeled nucleotide or unlabeled nucleotides that are subsequently labeled. It may also include one or more buffers, such as reaction buffer, labeling buffer, washing buffer, or a hybridization buffer, compounds for preparing the miRNA probes, and components for isolating miRNA.
• Other kits may include components for making a nucleic acid array comprising oligonucleotides complementary to miRNAs, and thus, may include, for example, a solid support.
• nucleic acid molecules that contain a sequence that is identical or complementary to all or part of any of SEQ ID NOS: 1- 22.
• kits may be packaged either in aqueous media or in lyophilized form.
• the container means of the kits will generally include at least one vial, test tube, flask, bottle, syringe or other container means, into which a component may be placed, and preferably, suitably aliquoted. Where there is more than one component in the kit (labeling reagent and label may be packaged together), the kit also will generally contain a second, third or other additional container into which the additional components may be separately placed. However, various combinations of components may be comprised in a vial.
• the kits of the present invention also will typically include a means for containing the nucleic acids, and any other reagent containers in close confinement for commercial sale.
• Such containers may include injection or blow-molded plastic containers into which the desired vials are retained.
• the liquid solution is an aqueous solution, with a sterile aqueous solution being one preferred solution.
• Other solutions that may be included in a kit are those solutions involved in isolating and/or enriching miRNA from a mixed sample.
• the components of the kit may be provided as dried powder(s).
• kits may also include components that facilitate isolation of the labeled miRNA. It may also include components that preserve or maintain the miRNA or that protect against its degradation. The components may be RNAse-free or protect against RNAses.
• kits can generally comprise, in suitable means, distinct containers for each individual reagent or solution.
• the kit can also include instructions for employing the kit components as well the use of any other reagent not included in the kit. Instructions may include variations that can be implemented. It is contemplated that such reagents are embodiments of kits of the invention. Also, the kits are not limited to the particular items identified above and may include any reagent used for the manipulation or characterization of miRNA.
• any embodiment discussed in the context of an miRNA array may be employed more generally in screening or profiling methods or kits of the invention.
• any embodiments describing what may be included in a particular array can be practiced in the context of miRNA profiling more generally and need not involve an array per se.
• any kit, array or other detection technique or tool, or any method can involve profiling for any of these miRNAs.
• any embodiment discussed in the context of an miRNA array can be implemented with or without the array format in methods of the invention; in other words, any miRNA in an miRNA array may be screened or evaluated in any method of the invention according to any techniques known to those of skill in the art.
• the array format is not required for the screening and diagnostic methods to be implemented.
• kits can include an miRNA array, as well as information regarding a standard or normalized miRNA profile for the miRNAs on the array.
• control RNA or DNA can be included in the kit.
• the control RNA can be miRNA that can be used as a positive control for labeling and/or array analysis.
• miRNA arrays are ordered macroarrays or microarrays of nucleic acid molecules (probes) that are fully or nearly complementary or identical to a plurality of miRNA molecules or precursor miRNA molecules and that are positioned on a support material in a spatially separated organization.
• Macroarrays are typically sheets of nitrocellulose or nylon upon which probes have been spotted.
• Microarrays position the nucleic acid probes more densely such that up to 10,000 nucleic acid molecules can be fit into a region typically 1 to 4 square centimeters.
• Microarrays can be fabricated by spotting nucleic acid molecules, e.g., genes, oligonucleotides, etc., onto substrates or fabricating oligonucleotide sequences in situ on a substrate. Spotted or fabricated nucleic acid molecules can be applied in a high density matrix pattern of up to about 30 non-identical nucleic acid molecules per square centimeter or higher, e.g. up to about 100 or even 1000 per square centimeter. Microarrays typically use coated glass as the solid support, in contrast to the nitrocellulose-based material of filter arrays. By having an ordered array of miRNA- complementing nucleic acid samples, the position of each sample can be tracked and linked to the original sample.
• nucleic acid molecules e.g., genes, oligonucleotides, etc.
• array devices in which a plurality of distinct nucleic acid probes are stably associated with the surface of a solid support are known to those of skill in the art.
• Useful substrates for arrays include nylon, glass and silicon.
• the arrays may vary in a number of different ways, including average probe length, sequence or types of probes, nature of bond between the probe and the array surface, e.g. covalent or non-covalent, and the like.
• the labeling and screening methods described herein and the arrays are not limited in its utility with respect to any parameter except that the probes detect miRNA; consequently, methods and compositions may be used with a variety of different types of miRNA arrays.
• the miR gene product comprises one or more of the SEQ ID NOS: 1 - 22, as shown in Figure 11.
• one miR gene product comprises one or more of: miR- 219 [SEQ ID NO: 20], miR-207[SEQ ID NO: 18], miR-30c [SEQ ID NO: 6], and miR124A [SEQ ID NO: 4].
• 125b-l a human homologue of lin-4, into a rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain gene locus in a patient with precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia 2005; 19(l l):2009-2010.

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