Identification of differentially expressed miRNA in cervical cancer

Cervical cancer (CC) is a common gynaecological malignancy in low-, middle-, and emerging countries, and so understanding its molecular basis is essential. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding RNAs, regulate gene expression and are linked to several cancers, including cervical cancer. MiRNAs affect various physiological and pathological processes by regulating target gene expression. Since it targets multiple protein-coding and noncoding genes, aberrant miRNA expression is one of the first cancer modifications. Twenty-two samples were sequenced using small RNA sequencing. Small RNAs were enriched from whole RNA using a whole RNA-Seq Kit v2. An Agilent small RNA kit in a 2100 Bioanalyzer analysed small RNA enrichment quality and quantity. Ion OneTouch 2 and ES were used to generate sequencing templates for samples barcoded with the Ion Xpress RNA-Seq Barcode 1-16 Kit. We used a P1 chip and Ion Proton system for sequencing. All sequencing reagents were obtained from Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA. Small RNA sequencing found 229 miRNAs (89 upregulated, 140 downregulated) that differed between normal and SCC samples. Comparing MetaMiqrClust data with ours found 54 miRNA clusters differently expressed (25 upregulated and 29 downregulated) across tumour and normal samples. These results show that miRNA expression in NCE and SCC indicates striatal involvement and indicates a role for these miRNAs in CC. Differentially expressed miRNA may be beneficial markers for CC disease stage, progression, and other clinical features.