Signature of MicroRNAs Associated with Pluripotency in Multiple Meningiomas: Potential Biomarkers in Tumor Regulation

Abstract

Meningiomas are common primary tumors of the central nervous system, affecting the intracranial and spinal dural surfaces. Multiple meningiomas account for approximately 1% to 10% of diagnosed cases and may occur synchronously or metachronously, being associated with alterations in the NF2 gene or arising sporadically. To date, little is known about the pathophysiology of these tumors. The capacity for pluripotency and self-renewal are well-known characteristics of embryonic stem cells, regulated by the transcription factors SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG, which govern the stem phenotype. One hypothesis of tumor development is that tumor stem cells exhibit a phenotype similar to embryonic stem cells; therefore, understanding the role of these transcription factors is crucial for elucidating mechanisms involved in tumor development. MicroRNAs also participate in regulating factors associated with pluripotency, presenting themselves as potential markers involved in this regulatory axis. Our objective was to evaluate the expression of the microRNAs miR-145, miR-143, and miR-200b in synchronous and metachronous multiple meningiomas. Real-time PCR was used for expression analysis. In our study, we observed a statistical difference only for miR-145 between the metachronous and synchronous groups, indicating hypoexpression of miR-145 in the metachronous group (p = 0.03). In the ROC curve analysis, miR-145 demonstrated better performance in distinguishing metachronous cases from controls, with an AUC of 81%, sensitivity of 93%, and specificity of 60%. Our results suggest that miR-145 has potential as a tumor marker associated with the pluripotency axis in multiple meningiomas, and further studies are needed to clarify the roles of miR-143 and miR-200b in multiple meningiomas.