Research
The tumor suppressive role of miRNA-370 by targeting FoxM1 in acute myeloid leukemia
- † Equal contributors
1 Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, No.107, Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, P. R. China
2 Department of Biochemistry, Shandong University, Jinan, China
3 Department of Microbiology/Key Laboratory for Experimental Teratology of Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
4 Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and CMM, Karolinska University Hospital Solna and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Molecular Cancer 2012, 11:56 doi:10.1186/1476-4598-11-56
Published: 17 August 2012Abstract
Background
Recent evidence has accumulated that MicroRNA (miRNA) dysregulation occurs in the majority of human malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and may contribute to onco-/leukemo-genesis.
Methods
The expression levels of miR-370 and FoxM1 were assessed in 48 newly diagnosed AML patients, 40 AML patients in 1st complete remission (CR) and 21 healthy controls. Quantitative real-time PCR, western blots, colony formation assay, and β-Galactosidase ( SA-β-Gal) staining were used to characterize the changes induced by overexpression or inhibition of miR-370 or FoxM1.
Results
We found that the down-regulation of miR-370 expression was a frequent event in both leukemia cell lines and primary leukemic cells from patients with de novo AML. Lower levels of miR-370 expression were found in 37 of 48 leukemic samples from AML patients compared to those in bone marrow cells derived from healthy adult individuals. Ectopic expression of miR-370 in HL60 and K562 cells led to cell growth arrest and senescence. In contrast, depletion of miR-370 expression using RNA interference enhanced the proliferation of those leukemic cells. Mechanistically, miR-370 targets the transcription factor FoxM1, a well established oncogenic factor promoting cell cycle progression. Moreover, when HL60 and K562 cells were treated with 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, a DNA methylation inhibitor, miR-370 expression was up-regulated, which indicates epigenetic silencing of miR-370 in leukemic cells.
Conclusions
Taken together, miR-370 may function as a tumor suppressor by targeting FoxM1, and the epigenetic silence of miR-370 thus leads to derepression of FoxM1 expression and consequently contributes to AML development and progression.
