Down-regulation of miR-34a Expression in Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia with Human Papillomavirus Infection and Its Relationship with p53 Expression

microRNAs (miRNAs) play pivotal roles in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. miRNA expression in human is becoming recognized as a new molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis. microRNA-34a (miR-34a), a member of the p53 network, was found to be regulated in multiple types of tumor. The purpose of this study was to define roles of miR-34a expression in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with human papillomavirus infection, and its relationship with p53 protein expression. This study was performed to analyze expression of miR-34a by using qRT-PCR, and to evaluate p53 protein expression by using immunohistochemistry in 40 cases. Down-regulation of miR-34a expression was detected in 27 (67.5%) out of 40 cases and Immunoreactivity for p53 was found in 17 (42.5%) out of 40 cases. Nineteen (82.6%) of the 23 cases with a negative p53 expression showed a down-regulation miR-34a expression, there was a significant associations between miR-34a and p53 protein expression (P=0.04). These results suggest that miRNA-34a expression tend to be reduced depending on the advanced histologic grade, and down-regulation of miR-34a expression might be associated with inactivation of p53 protein expression by human papillomavirus infection.