Microrna profiling for diagnosis of dysplastic nevi and melanoma

1. A method for distinguishing melanoma cells from dysplastic nevi cells in a skin lesion sample from a subject comprising:

(a) performing reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to amplify nucleic acids from a skin sample isolated from a skin lesion, wherein the skin sample is previously identified as containing melanoma cells and/or dysplastic nevi cells;

(b) assaying the expression level of two or more miRNAs in the skin sample by detecting the amplified nucleic acids of (a), wherein the two or more miRNAs are selected from the group consisting of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a;

x. miR-132;

xi. miR-1207.5p;

xii. miR-342.3p;

xiii. U38B; and

xiv. miR-155,

wherein assaying the level of expression comprises using a detectably labeled probe specific for each miRNA assayed;

(c) quantitatively comparing the levels of the two or more miRNAs in the skin lesion sample as assayed in (b) to the levels of each corresponding miRNA in a normal skin or nevus reference sample; and

(d) identifying the skin sample as containing:

(i) melanoma cells if the levels of each of the two or more miRNAs in the skin sample differs from the normal skin or nevus reference sample, wherein miR-150, miR-191, miR-23a, miR-132, miR-342.3p, and miR-155 are increased and miR-149-star, miR-1308, miR-1228-star, ENSG00000199411_s, miR-1268, miR-923, miR-1207.5p, and U38B are decreased relative to the normal skin or nevus reference sample; or

(ii) dysplastic nevi cells and/or no melanoma cells if the levels of each of the two or more miRNAs in the skin sample do not differ from the normal skin or nevus reference sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150; and

ii. miR-149-star.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii miR-149-star, and

iii miR-1308.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308; and

iv. miR-191.

5. The method of claim comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii, miR-1308;

iv. miR-191; and

V. miR-1228-star.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star; and

vi. ENSG00000199411_s.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s; and

vii. miR-1268.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

V. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268; and

viii. miR-923.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923; and

ix. miR-23a.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a; and

x. miR-132.

11. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a;

x. miR-132; and

xi. miR-1207.5p.

12. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a;

x. miR-132;

xi. miR-1207.5p; and

xii. miR-342.3p.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv. miR-191;

v. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a;

x. miR-132;

xi. miR-1207.5p;

xii. miR-342.3p; and

xiii. U38B.

14. The method of claim 1 , comprising measuring the level of:

i. miR-150;

ii. miR-149-star;

iii. miR-1308;

iv, miR-191;

V. miR-1228-star;

vi. ENSG00000199411_s;

vii. miR-1268;

viii. miR-923;

ix. miR-23a;

x, miR-132;

xi. miR-1207.5p;

xii. miR-342.3p;

xiii. U38B; and

xiv. miR-155.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring the level of at least one miRNA as an internal control.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the internal control is selected from the group consisting of:

i. miR-27b,

ii. miR-195,

iii. miR-199b-3p, and

iv. miR-199a-3p.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising isolating the nucleic acid from the skin sample.

18. The method of claim wherein the skin sample is formalin fixed paraffin-embedded.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising histopathological assessment of the skin lesion sample.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

(a) scoring (i) clinical observations of the subject (ii) histopathological assessment of the skin lesion sample and (iii) expression levels of the two or more miRNAs; and

(b) combining (i), (ii) and (iii) to obtain a diagnostic score, that indicates the likelihood of melanoma in the subject.