LAUSR

Background: Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive tumor type and is characterized by a poor prognosis. The main cause of treatment failure is the presence of tumor cells resistant to conventional therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in modulating the development of pancreatic carcinoma (PC). Methods: In this study, we established radioresistant cell lines from the commonly used human PC parental cell lines. We used high throughput sequencing to screen miRNA expression in both radioresistant and parental cell lines. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to confirm the results. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) biological processes (BPs) were performed to analyze gene set enrichment. Results: In total, 242 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between these two groups. Compared with the parental line, SW1990-R exhibited with 97 upregulated and 145 downregulated miRNAs. qRT-PCR confirmed five upregulated (miR-497-5p, miR-146b-3p, miR-181a-3p, miR-33a-3p, and miR-32-5p) and five downregulated (miR-7-5p, miR-30b-5p, miR-181a-5p, miR-296-5p, and miR-216a-5p) miRNAs. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that some of the differentially expressed miRNAs regulated classical functions and pathways, including signal transduction, global and overview map, and immune system. Conclusions: Differential expression of miRNAs in relation to radioresistance suggests that various miRNAs may be predictive biomarkers or therapeutic targets in PC.