A study on the levels for mRNA Gene expression of NF-κB and miR-34a genes in human patients with breast cancer: An indication for resistance to chemotherapy

Abstrak

Breast cancer (BC) is a major health issue that affects millions of people around the world. The NF-κB gene signaling plays a critical action in the processes of initiation, progression, and metastasis. In addition, miR-34a gene plays a major role in the CD4+ T cell activity of the triple-negative BC (TNBC), an unusual type of BC. The current study was conducted to evaluate the levels of mRNA Gene expression of NF-κB and miR-34a genes in human patients with BC. The study was performed on 16 blood samples from confirmed cases of BCs. Some other 16 blood samples from healthy individuals also were collected. The samples were subjected to a quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) method that targeted both NF-κB and miR-34a genes to evaluate levels of produced mRNA of these genes. The results demonstrated that the mRNA levels for the NF-κB gene significantly (p<0.01) decreased (0.04-fold change) in patients in a comparison with those from control group (0.23-fold change). For the miR-34a gene, the findings revealed that the mRNA levels significantly (p<0.01) increased (0.74-fold change) in patients compared to those from the control group (0.37-fold change). These results suggest important roles of the NF-κB and miR-34a genes in human patients with BC as it may refer to increases in resistance to chemotherapy, especially in the case of miR-34a gene, which needs further future investigation of their roles in the survivability and resistance to chemotherapy.

Kata Kunci