Expression of the miR-17-92 polycistron in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) CD34+ cells

L Venturini, K Battmer, M Castoldi, B Schultheis… - Blood, 2007 - ashpublications.org
L Venturini, K Battmer, M Castoldi, B Schultheis, A Hochhaus, MU Muckenthaler, A Ganser
Blood, 2007ashpublications.org
Aberrant micro RNA (miRNA) expression has been described in human malignancies
including B-cell lymphomas. We here report BCR-ABL–and c-MYC–dependent regulation of
miRNA expression in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) using microarray analysis (miCHIP)
and miRNA-specific quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction
(miR-qRT-PCR). In 3 bcr-abl–positive cell lines, expression of miRNAs encoded within the
polycistronic miR-17-92 cluster is specifically down-regulated (2-to 5-fold) by both imatinib …
Abstract
Aberrant micro RNA (miRNA) expression has been described in human malignancies including B-cell lymphomas. We here report BCR-ABL– and c-MYC–dependent regulation of miRNA expression in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) using microarray analysis (miCHIP) and miRNA-specific quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (miR-qRT-PCR). In 3 bcr-abl–positive cell lines, expression of miRNAs encoded within the polycistronic miR-17-92 cluster is specifically down-regulated (2- to 5-fold) by both imatinib treatment and anti–BCR-ABL RNA interference (RNAi). In addition, anti–c-MYC RNAi reduces miR-17-92 expression in K562 cells in which miRNAs can specifically repress reporter gene expression, as demonstrated by specific miRNA inhibition with antagomirs. Furthermore, lentivirus-mediated overexpression of polycistronic miRNAs in K562 cells confers increased proliferation, partial resistance against anti–c-MYC RNAi, and enhanced sensitivity to imatinib-induced cell death. Finally, we determined miR-17-92 expression in purified normal (n = 4), early chronic-phase (CP) (n = 24), and blast-crisis (BC) (n = 7) CML CD34+ cells and found up-regulation of polycistronic pri-miRNA transcripts in CML and mature miRNAs in CP but not in BC CML. These data are in accordance with a BCR-ABL–c-MYC–miR-17-92 pathway that mediates enhanced miRNA expression in CP but not BC CML CD34+ cells. Altered miRNA expression may contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease and may provide potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
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