In Silico Analysis and Experimental Validation of Two New Competing Endogenous RNA Networks in Bladder Cancer

Nassar, Mohamed; Matboli, Marwa; Hafez, Ezar; Zakaria, Mahmoud; Masoud, Ahmed; Saleh, Hazem; Elkady, Manar E; Hassan, Mohamed Kamel; Ali-El-Dein, Bedeir

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2025.390474.11846

In Silico Analysis and Experimental Validation of Two New Competing Endogenous RNA Networks in Bladder Cancer

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Urology and Nephrology Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt.

² Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11382, Egypt.

³ Zoology Dept., Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt.

⁴ Zoology department, Faculty of Science, Port Said university, Port Said, Egypt

10.21608/ejchem.2025.390474.11846

Abstract

Abstract—Early and non-invasive diagnosis of bladder cancer (BC) remains a clinical challenge. The objective is to try to use in silico study to find novel competing endogenous RNA network/s (ceRNA) and to validate the findings using tissue and urine samples from a pilot cohort of BC patients (n=20), along with urine samples from 20 controls (10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with lithiasis). Our in silico results found miR-1183 and miR-3714 as BC specific miRNAs that potentially target the tumor suppressor gene MYH9, which is involved in actin regulation. Moreover, another network revealed miR-4429 and miR-4752 which may target the other tumor suppressor, WIPF3. Additionally, LINC00670 was found to be involved in both networks. qPCR analysis of BC tissues, compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues, showed significantly higher expression of miR-1183 and miR-3714 (p < 0.05) and a corresponding decrease in MYH9 expression (p < 0.01). Comparing urine samples from BC to those from control individuals, the same pattern was seen. In contrast, BC tissues showed reduced expression of WIPF3 (p < 0.01) and no change in expression of both miR-4429 and miR-4752 compared to adjacent normal tissues. When comparing urine samples from BC to those from control individuals, the same trend was observed (p < 0.05). Interestingly, LINC00670 was significantly upregulated in both BC tissues and urine samples (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) compared to non-cancerous counterparts. Together, these findings suggest two novel ceRNA networks that may serve as potential biomarkers for the molecular diagnosis of bladder cancer.

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