Predicting SNPs in Mature MicroRNAs Dysregulated in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading type of cancer among women. Findings have revolutionized current knowledge of microRNA (miRNA) in breast tumorigenesis. The seed region of miRNA regulates the process of gene expression negatively. The presence of SNPs in the seed regions of miRNA dramatically alters the mature miRNA function. Additionally, SNPs in the out-seed region of miRNAs have a significant impact on miRNA targeting. This study focuses on the in silico analysis procedure of mature miRNA SNPs and their impact on BC risk. The database annotated SNPs on mature miRNAs was used. Also, target gene alterations, miRNAs function in BC, and the interaction of miRNAs with targets were predicted. A list of 101 SNPs in 100 miRNAs with functional targets in BC was indicated. Under the SNPs allele variation, 10 miRNAs changed function, 6 miRNAs lost targets, 15 miRNAs gained targets, 48 onco-miRNAs remained unchanged, and 21 tumor suppressor miRNAs remained unchanged. At last, a list of 89 SNPs, which alter miRNA function and miRNA-mRNA interaction, were shown to be potentially associated with BC risk. This research theoretically generated a list of possible causative SNPs in the mature miRNA gene that might be used in future BC management studies.