Integrated bioinformatics analysis of miRNA expression in Ewing sarcoma and potential regulatory effects of miR-21 via targeting ALCAM/CD166.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play essential functions in pathogenesis of Ewing sarcoma (ES). However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for ES occurrence and development through the regulation of miRNAs remain largely unknown. This study is aimed to explore the differential expressed miRNAs and mRNAs that play vital roles in ES. GSE80201 miRNA and GSE68776 mRNA microarray dataset were selected to carry out a series of bioinformatics analysis such as GEO 2R, gene ontology, pathway enrichment analysis, Venn analysis and PPI network construction to predict hub genes. Furthermore, using quantitative real-time PCR, RNA interference and luciferase reporter assay we demonstrated that activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM/CD166) is a direct target of miR-21-3p in human ES cell lines. Our results suggest that the miR-21/CD166 axis has the potential to serve as both diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for ES.