The putative tumor suppressor microRNA-101 modulates the cancer epigenome by repressing the polycomb group protein EZH2.

Abstract

The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) mediates epigenetic gene silencing by trimethylating histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and is known to aberrantly silence tumor suppressor genes in cancer. EZH2, the catalytic subunit of PRC2, enhances tumorigenesis and is commonly overexpressed in several types of cancer. Our microRNA profiling of bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) patient samples revealed that microRNA-101 (miR-101) is down-regulated in TCC, and we showed that miR-101 inhibits cell proliferation and colony formation in TCC cell lines. Furthermore, our results confirm that miR-101 directly represses EZH2 and stable EZH2 knockdowns in TCC cell lines create a similar growth suppressive phenotype. This suggests that abnormal down-regulation of miR-101 could lead to the overexpression of EZH2 frequently seen in cancer. We conclude that miR-101 may be a potent tumor suppressor by altering global chromatin structure through repression of EZH2.

• Authors: Jeffrey M Friedman, Gangning Liang, Chun-Chi Liu, Erika M Wolff, Yvonne C Tsai, Wei Ye, Xianghong Zhou, Peter A Jones
• Journal: Cancer research (Cancer Res) Vol. 69 Issue 6 Pg. 2623-9 (Mar 15 2009) ISSN: 1538-7445 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19258506 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• DNA-Binding Proteins
• MIRN101 microRNA, human
• MicroRNAs
• Transcription Factors
• Oxidoreductases, N-Demethylating
• EZH2 protein, human
• Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein
• Polycomb Repressive Complex 2

Topics

• Carcinoma, Transitional Cell (genetics, metabolism)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• DNA-Binding Proteins (genetics)
• Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein
• Gene Expression Profiling
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• Genes, Tumor Suppressor
• Humans
• MicroRNAs (biosynthesis, genetics)
• Oxidoreductases, N-Demethylating (genetics, metabolism)
• Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
• Transcription Factors (genetics)
• Urinary Bladder Neoplasms (genetics, metabolism)