406937

MIR145

microRNA 145;MIR145;microRNA 145

hsa-mir-145

5q32

ncRNA

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that control protein expression through various mechanisms. Their altered expression has been shown to be associated with various cancers. The aim of this study was to profile miRNA expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to analyze the function of specific miRNAs in CRC cells. MirVana miRNA Bioarrays were used to determine the miRNA expression profile in eight CRC cell line models, 45 human CRC samples of different stages, and four matched normal colon tissue samples. SW620 CRC cells were stably transduced with miR-143 or miR-145 expression vectors and analyzed in vitro for cell proliferation, cell differentiation and anchorage-independent growth. Signalling pathways associated with differentially expressed miRNAs were identified using a gene set enrichment analysis. RESULTS: The expression analysis of clinical CRC samples identified 37 miRNAs that were differentially expressed between CRC and normal tissue. Furthermore, several of these miRNAs were associated with CRC tumor progression including loss of miR-133a and gain of miR-224. We identified 11 common miRNAs that were differentially expressed between normal colon and CRC in both the cell line models and clinical samples. In vitro functional studies indicated that miR-143 and miR-145 appear to function in opposing manners to either inhibit or augment cell proliferation in a metastatic CRC model. The pathways targeted by miR-143 and miR-145 showed no significant overlap. Furthermore, gene expression analysis of metastatic versus non-metastatic isogenic cell lines indicated that miR-145 targets involved in cell cycle and neuregulin pathways were significantly down-regulated in the metastatic context. CONCLUSION: MiRNAs showing altered expression at different stages of CRC could be targets for CRC therapies and be further developed as potential diagnostic and prognostic analytes. The identified biological processes and signalling pathways collectively targeted by co-expressed miRNAs in CRC provide a basis for understanding the functional role of miRNAs in cancer.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported miR-145 dysregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, miR-145 profiles were compared between CRC and corresponding non-tumour tissues. METHODS: The expression levels of miR-145 were analysed in CRC cell lines and tumour tissues by real-time PCR. A luciferase reporter assay confirmed direct targets. The functional effects of miR-145 were examined in transfected CRC cells in vitro and in vivo using established assays. RESULTS: Downregulation of miR-145 was detected in most primary CRC tumours, and was significantly correlated with a more aggressive phenotype of CRC in patients. In CRC cell lines, ectopic overexpression of miR-145 inhibited cell proliferation, motility and invasion in vitro. Stable overexpression of miR-145 suppressed tumour growth and pulmonary metastasis in vivo. Further studies indicated that miR-145 may directly interact with the 3-untranslated region (3-UTR) of Fascin-1 messenger RNA (mRNA), downregulating its mRNA and protein expression levels. In clinical specimens, Fascin-1 expression was negatively correlated with miR-145 expression. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-145 has a critical role in the inhibition of invasive and metastatic capacities of CRC, probably through directly targeting Fascin-1. This miRNA may be involved in the development and progression of CRC.

In spite of the undisputed importance of altered expression patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs) in various cancers, there is little information on the clinicopathologic significance of cancer-related miRNAs (MIR21, MIR143, MIR144, MIR145, and MIR205) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We examined the expression levels of the precursor and mature miRNA genes in ESCC using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also investigated the mRNA expression levels of processing elements (RNASEN, DGCR8, and DICER1) that participate in miRNA-biogenesis pathway. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships between the expression levels of these five miRNAs and the clinicopathologic parameters of ESCC patients. The expression levels of mature MIR21 and mature MIR145 were higher in ESCC than those in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). The mature/pre ratio of MIR21 in ESCC was higher than that in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). With regard to miRNA-processing elements, the expression level of RNASEN was higher in ESCC than in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). Furthermore, altered expression of these miRNAs was related to the clinicopathologic features of ESCC patients. The high expression of mature MIR21 and mature MIR205 was associated with lymph node positivity in ESCC patients (P < 0.05). The high levels of expression of mature MIR143 and mature MIR145 were associated with recurrence of metastasis in ESCC patients (P < 0.05). The findings may imply that miRNA biogenesis is aberrantly accelerated in ESCC. Analysis of the expression levels of miRNAs should provide useful information for evaluation of the staging, prognosis, and treatment of ESCC patients.

MicroRNAs are important gene regulators that could play a profound role in tumorigenesis. Our previous studies indicate that miR-145 is a tumor suppressor capable of inhibiting tumor cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we show that miR-145 exerts its function in a cell-specific manner. Although miR-145 inhibits cell growth in MCF-7 and HCT-116 cells, it has no significant effect on cell growth in metastatic breast cancer cell lines. However, miR-145 significantly suppresses cell invasion in these cells; in contrast, the antisense oligo against miR-145 increases cell invasion. miR-145 is also able to suppress lung metastasis in an experimental metastasis animal model. This miR-145-mediated suppression of cell invasion is in part due to the silencing of the metastasis gene mucin 1 (MUC1). Using luciferase reporters carrying the 3'-untranslated region of MUC1 combined with Western blot and immunofluorescence staining, we identify MUC1 as a direct target of miR-145. Moreover, ectopic expression of MUC1 enhances cell invasion, which can be blocked by miR-145. Of interest, suppression of MUC1 by miR-145 causes a reduction of beta-catenin as well as the oncogenic cadherin 11. Finally, suppression of MUC1 by RNAi mimics the miR-145 action in suppression of invasion, which is associated with downregulation of beta-catenin and cadherin 11. Taken together, these results suggest that as a tumor suppressor, miR-145 inhibits not only tumor growth but also cell invasion and metastasis.

MicroRNAs are important gene regulators that play a profound role in tumorigenesis. MicroRNA-145 (miR-145), an important member in the family of microRNAs, is under-expressed in several types of tumors and acts as a tumor suppressor. The role and probable pathways of miR-145 in osteosarcoma carcinogenesis are still unknown. In this study, we found that miR-145 was significantly under-expressed in osteosarcoma tissues, and the over-expression of miR-145 could inhibit invasion and angiopoiesis of osteosarcoma cells. Furthermore, the results showed that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was down-regulated in osteosarcoma cells after miR-145 transfection. On the basis of these results, we performed the luciferase assay and verified that miR-145 could down-regulate VEGF at the translational level by partially binding to VEGF 3' untranslated region (3'UTR). Therefore, it can be concluded that miR-145 can inhibit invasion and metastasis of osteosarcoma cells. One of the mechanisms is the down-regulation of VEGF expression by miR-145 by binding to the 3'UTR of VEGF mRNA specifically. These novel findings may have extensive implications for an effective gene therapy of osteosarcoma.

The principal problem arising from prostate cancer (PCa) is its propensity to metastasize to bone. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in many tumor metastases. The importance of miRNAs in bone metastasis of PCa has not been elucidated to date. We investigated whether the expression of certain miRNAs was associated with bone metastasis of PCa. We examined the miRNA expression profiles of 6 primary and 7 bone metastatic PCa samples by miRNA microarray analysis. The expression of 5 miRNAs significantly decreased in bone metastasis compared with primary PCa, including miRs-508-5p, -145, -143, -33a and -100. We further examined other samples of 16 primary PCa and 13 bone metastases using real-time PCR analysis. The expressions of miRs-143 and -145 were verified to down-regulate significantly in metastasis samples. By investigating relationship of the levels of miRs-143 and -145 with clinicopathological features of PCa patients, we found down-regulations of miRs-143 and -145 were negatively correlated to bone metastasis, the Gleason score and level of free PSA in primary PCa. Over-expression miR-143 and -145 by retrovirus transfection reduced the ability of migration and invasion in vitro, and tumor development and bone invasion in vivo of PC-3 cells, a human PCa cell line originated from a bone metastatic PCa specimen. Their upregulation also increased E-cadherin expression and reduced fibronectin expression of PC-3 cells which revealed a less invasive morphologic phenotype. These findings indicate that miRs-143 and -145 are associated with bone metastasis of PCa and suggest that they may play important roles in the bone metastasis and be involved in the regulation of EMT Both of them may also be clinically used as novel biomarkers in discriminating different stages of human PCa and predicting bone metastasis.

Emerging evidence demonstrates that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the critical drivers of tumor progression and metastasis. The microRNAs (miRNAs) may play a crucial role in repressing/promoting metastasis of cancer by regulating CSCs. A previous study showed that miR-143 and miR-145 play an important role in regulating bone metastasis of prostate cancer (PCa), but the exact mechanism of regulation of bone metastasis of PCa is not fully understood. In this study, we found that overexpression of miR-143 and miR-145 inhibited the cell viability and colony formation of PC-3 cells from PCa bone metastasis. Furthermore, miR-143 and miR-145 suppressed tumor sphere formation and expression of CSC markers and 'stemness' factors including CD133, CD44, Oct4, c-Myc and Klf4 in PC-3 cells. The study further found that miR-143 and miR-145 inhibit bone invasion and tumorigenicity of PC-3 cells in vivo. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that miR-143 and miR-145 inhibit CSC properties of PC-3 cells and suggest that miR-143 and miR-145 may play a significant role in the bone metastasis progression of PCa by regulating CSC characteristics.

The principal problem arising from prostate cancer (PCa) is its propensity to metastasize to bone and the mechanism(s) need to be further elucidated. The tumor suppressor p53 plays an important role in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer cell stemness, which have been proposed to play critical roles in cancer metastasis. MiR-145, a direct target of p53, represses bone metastasis of PCa and is involved in regulating EMT and cancer cell stemness. However, it is unknown whether wildtype p53 (WT-p53) plays a role in regulating invasion, EMT and cancer cell stemness of PCa cells and whether miR-145 mediates the function of WT-p53. In the present study, we found that ectopic expression of WT-p53 inhibited the migration and invasion, and enhanced the adhesion of p53-null PC-3 cells derived from PCa bone metastasis. Furthermore, WT-p53 suppressed the expression of the mesenchymal markers fibronectin, vimentin, N-cadherin, ZEB2 and upregulated the expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin in PC-3 cells. Moreover, WT-p53 also suppressed colony formation, tumor sphere formation and expression of CSC markers and stemness factors including CD44, Oct4, c-Myc and Klf4 in PC-3 cells. Importantly, WT-p53 upregulated the expression of miR-145, and the inhibitory effects of WT-p53 on migration, invasion, EMT and stemness of PC-3 cells were reversed by anti-miR-145. Together, our findings demonstrate that WT-p53 suppresses migration, invasion, EMT and stemness in PC-3 cells at least partially through modulating miR-145. These results suggest that loss of WT-p53 may promote the bone metastasis of PCa at least partially through repressing miR-145 to elevate EMT and stemness of cancer cells.