Integrative analyses of circulating microRNA expression profile in hexavalent chromium exposed workers – A cross-sectional study within the SafeChrom projectShow others and affiliations
2025 (English)In: Journal of Hazardous Materials, ISSN 0304-3894, E-ISSN 1873-3336, Vol. 488, article id 137367Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) can occur during occupational activities and leading lung cancer. MicroRNA (miRNA) plays an important part in carcinogenesis. Whether Cr(VI) exposure causes cancer-related miRNA changes is yet uncharacterized. Methods: This study included 89 Cr(VI) exposed workers and 47 controls. MiRNAs were extracted from plasma followed by library preparations, miRNA sequencing, and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) analysis. To understand the underlying biological functions, we used bioinformatics approaches, and qPCR was performed to validate the expression of potential target genes. Results: A total of 2100 miRNAs were detected. In the exposed workers, 59 DEMs were identified: 21 up-regulated and 38 down-regulated. Target genes for both up- and down-regulated DEMs were significantly enriched in: miRNAs in cancer, small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Protein-protein interactions showed a high number of interactions, in which CCNE2, CDK4 and E2F1 were predicted as hub genes, and the messenger RNA expression of those genes was significantly higher in the exposed workers compared with controls. Conclusions: Our study suggests that low-to-moderate Cr(VI) exposure results in differential expression of lung-cancer-related miRNAs and associated target genes. Further studies are needed to validate our findings and clarify whether these changes predict cancer risk.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier B.V. , 2025. Vol. 488, article id 137367
Keywords [en]
Bioinformatics, Expression profiles, Hexavalent chromium, MicroRNA, Sequencing, Adult, Case-Control Studies, Chromium, Circulating MicroRNA, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Lung Neoplasms, Male, MicroRNAs, Middle Aged, Occupational Exposure, Biological organs, Gene expression, Gene expression regulation, antimony, cadmium, cobalt, copper, creatinine, cyclin dependent kinase 4, drinking water, lead, manganese, mercury, microRNA 1246, microRNA 1273h 3p, microRNA 146b 3p, microRNA 16 5p, microRNA 17 3p, microRNA 203b 5p, microRNA 25 5p, microRNA 3679 5p, microRNA 376b 3p, microRNA 4685 3p, microRNA 493 5p, microRNA 590 3p, microRNA 93 3p, microRNA 99b 3p, nickel, selenium, tobacco smoke, transcription factor E2F1, unclassified drug, zinc, chromium hexavalent ion, Expression profile, Integrative analysis, Lung Cancer, MicroRNA expression, Target genes, Workers', cancer, cell, genetic analysis, plasma, pollution exposure, protein, RNA, alcohol consumption, ambient air, Article, ccne2 gene, controlled study, creatinine urine level, cross-sectional study, current smoker, differential gene expression, down regulation, erythrocyte, ex-smoker, functional enrichment analysis, gene expression profiling, gene ontology, gene targeting, human, human cell, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, KEGG, leisure, mRNA expression level, multiomics, non small cell lung cancer, occupational cancer, occupational carcinogenesis, occupational lung disease, oncogene, protein protein interaction, real time polymerase chain reaction, RNA sequencing, sensitivity analysis, small cell lung cancer, upregulation, Western blotting, adverse event, blood, case control study, genetics, lung tumor
National Category
Cancer and Oncology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-223219DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137367ISI: 001421397500001PubMedID: 40098212Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85216225875OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-223219DiVA, id: diva2:2055038
2026-04-222026-04-222026-04-22