A Bioinformatics-Based Strategy Identifies Colon-Specific miR-192/215-5p as Tumor Suppressors and Links Crohn’s Disease and Colorectal Cancer by Targeting Metabolic Pathways

Background/Aims: MicroRNAs
have emerged as key regulators involved in a variety of biological
processes. Previous studies have demonstrated that miR-192/215 participated in
progression of Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer. However, their concrete relationships
and regulation networks in diseases remain unclear. Methods: Here we employed bioinformatics methods to expound
miR-192/215-5p macrocontrol regulatory networks shared by two diseases. For
data mining and figure generation, several miRNA prediction tools, Human miRNA
tissue atlas, FunRich, miRcancer, MalaCards, STRING, GEPIA, cBioPortal, GEO
databases, Pathvisio, Graphpad Prism 6 software, et al. are extensively applied. Results: miR-192/215-5p were specially
distributed in colon tissues and enriched biological pathways were
closely associated with human cancers. Emerging role of miR-192/215-5p and
their common pathways in Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer was also
analyzed. Conclusion:
Based on results derived from multiple approaches, we
identified the biological functions of miR-192/215-5p as a tumor suppressor and
link Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer by targeting triglyceride synthesis
and extracellular matrix remodeling pathways.