Functional implications of microRNAs in acute myeloid leukemia by integrating microRNA and messenger RNA expression profiling.

Background: The expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is deregulated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but the corresponding functional miRNA-controlled pathways are poorly understood. Integration of messenger RNA (mRNA) and miRNA expression profiling may allow the identification of functional links between the whole transcriptome and microRNome that are involved in myeloid leukemogenesis.

Methods: We integrated miRNA and mRNA expression profiles obtained from 48 newly diagnosed AML patients by using 2 different microarray platforms and performed correlation, gene ontology, and network analysis.