Evaluation of Different Blood Circulating miRNAs for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosis.

The current study was conducted to investigate the potential of three circulating miRNAs (miR-21, miR-16 and miR-100) as HCC diagnostic marker in the population living in Guangdong province, China. First, the Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@SiO2 magnetic microsphere were prepared. Fe3O4@SiO2 microspheres were further used for total RNA purification from serum. After that, the real-time qPCR was conducted for the detecting the miRNA in the serum of HCC patients and healthy volunteers. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope images showed that monodisperse Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@SiO2 microspheres were successfully synthesized with a mean diameter of about 500 nm and 600 nm, respectively. The microsphere was spherical in shape with good state of dispersion. The characteristic peak at 1088.8 cm(-1) in FTIR spectra belonged to the asymmetry stretching vibration of Si-O-Si, which confirmed the SiO2 coating on Fe3O4 microspheres. The successful amplification of miRNAs in qPCR verified that the total RNA extracted using the Fe3O4@SiO2 microspheres retained high quality. The real time PCR results showed that miR-21 was differentially expressed in the serum of HCC patients and healthy volunteers. miR-21 and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) together could be potentially used as HCC diagnostic marker in Guangdong province population in China.