Ancuta Jurj

Dr. Ancuta Jurj

Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

9Years (2018-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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20 October 2018 in Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Cornelia BraicuCornelia Braicu
Cornelia Braicu
Lajos-Zsolt RadulyLajos-Zsolt Raduly
Lajos-Zsolt Raduly
GMGabriela Morar-Bolba
Gabriela Morar-Bolba
RCRoxana Cojocneanu
Roxana Cojocneanu
AJAncuta Jurj
Ancuta Jurj
Ioana Berindan-NeagoeIoana Berindan-Neagoe
Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous pathology, exhibiting a number of subtypes commonly associated with a poor outcome. Due to their high stability, microRNAs are often regarded as non-invasive cancer biomarkers, having an expression pattern specific for their ‘cell of origin’. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC: ER-, PR-, Her-2-) and double positive breast cancer (DPBC: ER+, PR+, Her-2) miRNA expression patterns were obtained by analysis of the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) data, followed by PCR-array analysis on plasma samples from 20 TNBC patients, 14 DPBC patients and 11 controls. Three downregulated and nine upregulated miRNAs were obtained from the TNBC analysis. Five overexpressed miRNAs were identified in the DPBC group. Four of the dysregulated miRNAs (miR-10a, miR-125b, miR-210 and miR-489) were common for both groups. The cluster miR-17-92 (miR-17, miR-20a, miR-20b, and miR-93), along with miR-130, miR-22 and miR-29a/c, were found to differentiate between TNBC and DPBC. A panel of five transcripts (miR-10a, miR-125, miR-193b, miR-200b and miR-489) was validated in a new set of plasma samples. The overlapping of TCGA and plasma profiling data revealed miR-200b, miR-200c, miR-210 and miR-29c as common signature. MiR-200b was validated on additional normal and tumor tissue samples. The expression level of this transcript from the TCGA data was correlated with lung and bone metastatic genes. The miR-200b presents a great potential for the future advancements in the diagnostic/prognostic and therapeutic approach of TNBC, along with other coding or non-coding transcripts. However, this needs to be further integrated in a regulatory network that acts in conjunction with other markers that affect the patients’ prognosis or response to therapy.