The expression of miR-513c and miR-3163 was downregulated in tumor tissues compared with margin tissues of patients with breast cancer

Abstract Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common invasive cancer with different subtypes that its metabolism is unique compared with normal cells. Glutamine is considered a critical nutrition for tumor cell growth and therefore, targeting glutamine metabolism, especially Glutaminase, which catalyzed the conversion of glutamine to glutamate can be beneficial to design anti-cancer agents. Recently, evidence has shown that miRNAs with short length and single strand properties play a significant role in regulating the genes related to glutamine metabolism and may control the development of cancer. Methods: Since, in-silico analysis confirmed that miR-513c and miR-3163 might be involved in glutamine metabolism, the expression level of these two miRNAs was evaluated in eighty BC tissues and margin tissues. The data were analyzed to evaluate the correlation between expression level of these miRNAs and patient’s characteristics such as abortion history, family history, and age. Furthermore, in-silico analysis was applied to predict the potential biological processes and molecular pathways of miR-513c and miR-3163 based on its gene targets. Results: In-silico studies revealed the top categories of biological processes and pathways that play a critical role in cancer development were target genes for miR-513c and miR-3163. The current study showed that miR-513c (P-value= 0.02062 and fold change= -2.3801) and miR-3163 (P-value= 0.02034 and fold change= -2.3792) were downregulated in tumor tissues compared to margin tissues. Furthermore, the subgroup studies did not show any substantial relationship between expression levels of these two miRNAs and factors such as age, family history cancer, and abortion. Conclusion: Based on our data, miR-513c and miR-3163 may be offered as a potential diagnosis and therapeutic targets for patients with BC.