January - March 2023, Volume 19, Issue 1

Ghaderi P, Fallah S, Khaledi HR, Tehranian A, Rahmati F, Sheikhhasani S

Expression Levels of FOXO-1, P27KIP1, MIR-27, MIR-186 and AKT1/AKT-P Proteins in Women with Endometrial Cancer and Hyperplasia: Implications for the Human Reproductive System

Acta Endo (Buc) 2023, 19 (1): 1-9
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2023.1

Objectives. Despite extensive research on endometrial cancer (EC) and endometrial hyperplasia, there is still a gap in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying their development and progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression levels of FOXO-1, P27Kip1, miR-27, and miR-186, and Akt1, Akt-P proteins in patients with EC and endometrial hyperplasia compared to control subjects. Subjects and methods. Samples of the endometrial tumor (n=30), normal (control) (n=30) and endometrial hyperplastic (n=30) tissue were obtained from patients referring to Arash and Imam Khomani hospitals, Tehran, Iran. Expression levels of genes and microRNAs were evaluated by qRT- PCR. Western blot analysis was applied for protein evaluation. The data were analyzed using t-test, Mann -Whitney U, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, ANCOVA and ANOVA. Results. There was significant decrease in FOXO-1 in EC tissue compared to control tissue (p<0.05). Significant increase was observed in expression of miR-27 in patients with EC (p<0.001) and hyperplasia (p<0.01), whereas miR-186 expression level increased significantly only in patients with EC (p<0.05). P27Kip1 expression level did not significantly change in patients with EC and hyperplasia. There was a significant association between expression levels of miR-27 with FOXO-1 and P27Kip1 in patients with EC. Western blot analysis revealed higher endometrial AKT1-P protein levels in patients with EC and hyperplasia than control subjects (p<0.05). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that FOXO-1, miR-27, miR-186, and Akt1-P/Akt1 protein have the potential to serve as tissue biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis, and progression of EC in the human reproductive system.

Keywords: endometrial cancer, endometrial hyperplasia, biomarker.

Correspondence: Soudabeh Fallah (PhD), Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 56155, Iran, E-mail: fallah.s@iums.ac.ir