Abstract
Infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common occurrence among the global population, with millions of new cases emerging on an annual basis. Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression is increasingly being identified to play a role in a number of different diseases, especially in the context of high-risk HPV infection. The present study investigated the miRNA expression profiles of warts induced by low-risk HPV. In warts, miR-27b, miR-24-1, miR-3654, miR-647, and miR-1914 were downregulated while miR-612 was upregulated compared to normal skin. Using miRTargetLink Human, experimentally supported evidence was obtained showing that miR-27b targeted the vascular endothelial growth factor C (
VEGFC
) and CAMP-responsive element binding protein 1 (
CREB1
) genes. The
VEGFC
and
CREB1
genes have been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis and wart formation, respectively. Similarly, the oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (
OLR1
) gene, which plays an important role in the humoral immunity of the skin, and the plexin D1 (
PLXND1
) gene, which is highly expressed in tumor vasculature, were both found to be common targets of miR-27b, miR-1914, and miR-612.