Background Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that microRNA-200s (miR-200a, miR-200b and miR-200c) could serve as promising molecular biomarkers for cancer prognosis. Nevertheless, the associations between miR-200s expression and colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis remain controversial. Methods We applied two mainstream approaches combining meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis to answer whether miR-200s were associated with the prognosis of CRC patients and why miR-200s could be used as prognostic biomarkers for CRC. Results Consequently, low expression of miR-200s was associated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) in CRC patients (HR: 1.09; 95% CI 1.01-1.17; P = 0.025). According to the subgroup analysis, the prognostic role of miR-200s was more significant for tissue samples, large samples, American patients and miR-200a subgroups. Then the target genes of miR-200s were predicted and applied for functional enrichment analyses. The results showed that the target genes of miR-200s were mainly enriched into some vital ontology subjects such as regulation ability, key cell structures and binding function. Moreover, a series of important signaling pathways were identified, which were significantly linked with the initiation and progression of CRC. Additionally, a protein‑protein interaction (PPI) network of miR-200s targets was constructed to screen hub genes and modules. The identified hub genes and modules were validated to be highly involved in the occurrence and development of CRC. Conclusions Current evidences revealed that miR-200s could be promising biomarkers for CRC prognosis. However, the findings still need to be validated with more larger-scale prospective studies and biological experiments before miR-200s could be applied into clinical application.

中文翻译：

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microRNA-200s 在结直肠癌中的预后意义的综合表征和验证。

背景 越来越多的证据表明，microRNA-200s（miR-200a、miR-200b 和 miR-200c）可以作为癌症预后的有希望的分子生物标志物。然而，miR-200s 表达与结直肠癌 (CRC) 预后之间的关联仍存在争议。方法 我们应用两种主流方法结合荟萃分析和生物信息学分析来回答 miR-200s 是否与 CRC 患者的预后相关，以及为什么 miR-200s 可用作 CRC 的预后生物标志物。结果 因此，miR-200s 的低表达与 CRC 患者的不利总生存期 (OS) 相关（HR：1.09；95% CI 1.01-1.17；P = 0.025）。根据亚组分析，miR-200s对组织样本、大样本、美国患者和miR-200a亚组的预后作用更显着。然后预测miR-200s的靶基因并将其应用于功能富集分析。结果表明，miR-200s的靶基因主要富集在调控能力、关键细胞结构和结合功能等一些重要的本体学科中。此外，还确定了一系列重要的信号通路，这些通路与 CRC 的发生和进展显着相关。此外，构建了 miR-200s 靶标的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用 (PPI) 网络以筛选中枢基因和模块。鉴定出的枢纽基因和模块被证实与CRC的发生和发展高度相关。结论 目前的证据表明，miR-200s 可能是 CRC 预后的有希望的生物标志物。然而，