Accepted_test

The study aimed to investigate the role of the microRNA miR-124-3p as a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer. A transcriptomic dataset of 131 ovarian cancer patients from the NCBI GEO database was used for screening regulatory long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and mRNA targets of miR-124-3p. Through correlation analysis, 262 lncRNAs and 333 mRNAs were identified as negatively correlated with miR-124-3p.

To assess the functional response of SKOV3 cells to overexpression of miR-124-3p, the cells were transfected with a miR-124-3p mimic. Differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs and mRNAs were then analyzed using Affymetrix HTA 2.0 high-throughput microarrays. Among the 333 mRNAs negatively correlated with miR-124-3p, 127 DE mRNAs were detected in SKOV3 cells, with 94 mRNAs showing downregulation by 1.1-1.7-fold.

To identify potential binding sites between miR-124-3p and the selected mRNAs and lncRNAs, local sequence alignment was performed using the Smith-Waterman algorithm. Eight lncRNAs and 15 mRNA targets, characterized by one or more binding sites of 7mer-8mer size, were selected.

The functional response of these RNAs to miR-124-3p overexpression was evaluated. Based on the Affymetrix microarray data, 5 out of 15 predicted mRNA targets showed decreased expression levels by 1.1-1.7 times. Additionally, 3 out of 8 predicted lncRNAs demonstrated functional response to miR-124-3p overexpression.

These identified lncRNAs and mRNAs that interact with miR-124-3p could potentially serve as new markers for ovarian cancer. However, further verification of the obtained data in a representative set of clinical samples, followed by validation in cell cultures, is necessary.