Expression and relevant bioinformatics analysis of miR-135b-5p in oral squamous cell carcinoma

To observe the clinical significance of miR-135b-5p in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and to conduct a bioinformatics analysis of its predicted target genes.

The expression levels of miR-135b-5p in OSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues were compared using data from TCGA and GEO databases, and the correlations of miR-135b-5p expression level with clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed. Fresh tissues were collected in the clinic, and the expression of miR-135b-5p was verified by quantitative real-time PCR. The target genes with enriched pathways were analyzed by using bioinformatics methods. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed to screen hub genes.

The expression levels of miR-135b-5p were significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.001) and had a good diagnostic capability (AUC=0.960, P < 0.001). The expression level of miR-135b-5p was positively correlated with histopathological grading (P=0.011). Enrichment analyses revealed that the target genes of miR-135b-5p were significantly associated with tumor-related signaling pathways, such as the calcium signaling pathway, the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway and the cAMP signaling pathway. Ten core target genes were obtained by screening: DLG2, ANK3, ERBB4, SCN2B, NBEA, GABRB2, ATP2B2, SNTA1, CACNA1D, and SPTBN4.

miR-135b-5p may act as an oncogene miRNA in OSCC and has the potential value of acting as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for OSCC.