A miR-590/Acvr2a/Rad51b axis regulates DNA damage repair during mESC proliferation

The Role of MicroRNA in DNA Damage Response

DNA is essential for the development and function of organisms. A number of factors affect DNA integrity and cause DNA damages, such as ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation and hydrogen peroxide. DNA damages activate a series of intracellular reactions, called DNA damage response, which play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of cancers and other diseases. MiRNA is a type of evolutionarily conserved non-coding RNA and affects the expression of target genes by post-transcriptional regulation. Increasing evidences suggested that the expression of some miRNAs was changed in tumor cases. MiRNAs may participate in DNA damage response and affect genomic stability via influencing the processes of cell cycle, DNA damage repair and apoptosis, thus ultimately impact on tumorigenesis. Therefore, the role of miRNA in DNA damage response is reviewed, to provide a theoretical basis for the mechanism of miRNAs' effects on DNA damage response and for the research of new therapies for diseases.

ENTPD1 (CD39) Expression Inhibits UVR-Induced DNA Damage Repair through Purinergic Signaling and Is Associated with Metastasis in Human Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

UVR and immunosuppression are major risk factors for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Regulatory T cells promote cSCC carcinogenesis, and in other solid tumors, infiltrating regulatory T cells and CD8⁺ T cells express ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (ENTPD1) (also known as CD39), an ectoenzyme that catalyzes the rate-limiting step in converting extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to extracellular adenosine (ADO). We previously showed that extracellular purine nucleotides influence DNA damage repair. In this study, we investigate whether DNA damage repair is modulated through purinergic signaling in cSCC. We found increased ENTPD1 expression on T cells within cSCCs when compared with the expression on T cells from blood or nonlesional skin, and accordingly, concentrations of derivative extracellular adenosine diphosphate (ADP), adenosine monophosphate (AMP), and ADO are increased in tumors compared with those in normal skin. Importantly, ENTPD1 expression is significantly higher in human cSCCs that metastasize than in those that are nonmetastatic. We also identify in a mouse model that ENTPD1 expression is induced by UVR in an IL-27-dependent manner. Finally, increased extracellular ADO is shown to downregulate the expression of NAP1L2, a nucleosome assembly protein we show to be important for DNA damage repair secondary to UVR. Together, these data suggest a role for ENTPD1 expression on skin-resident T cells to regulate DNA damage repair through purinergic signaling to promote skin carcinogenesis and metastasis.

Ketamine promotes the neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells by activating mTOR

Ketamine is a widely used general anesthetic and has been reported to demonstrate neurotoxicity and neuroprotection. Investigation into the regulatory mechanism of ketamine on influencing neural development is of importance for a better and safer way of relieving pain. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to detect the critical neural associated gene expression, and flow cytometry to detect the neural differentiation effect. Hence, in the present study the underlying mechanism of ketamine (50 nM) on neural differentiation of the mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) line 46C was investigated. The results demonstrated that a low dose of ketamine (50 nM) promoted the differentiation of mESCs to neural stem cells (NSCs) and activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) by upregulating the expression levels of phosphorylated (p)‑mTOR. Furthermore, inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway by rapamycin or knockdown of mTOR suppressed neural differentiation. A rescue experiment further confirmed that downregulation of mTOR inhibited the promotion of neural differentiation induced by ketamine. Taken together, the present study indicated that a low level of ketamine upregulated p‑mTOR expression levels, promoting neural differentiation.

MicroRNAs, DNA damage response and ageing

Ageing is a multifactorial and integrated gradual deterioration affecting the most of biological process of cells. MiRNAs are differentially expressed in the cellular senescence and play important role in regulating of genes expression involved in features of ageing. The perception of miRNAs functions in ageing regulation can be useful in clarifying the mechanisms underlying ageing and designing of therapeutic strategies. The preservation of genomic integrity through DNA damage response (DDR) is related to the process of cellular senescence. The recent studies have shown that miRNAs has directly regulated the expression of numerous proteins in DDR pathways. In this review study, DDR pathways, miRNA biogenesis and functions, current finding on DDR regulations, molecular biology of ageing and the role of miRNAs in these processes have been studied. Finally, a brief explanation about the therapeutic function of miRNAs in ageing regarding its regulation of DDR has been provided.

LncRNA Rik-203 contributes to anesthesia neurotoxicity via microRNA-101a-3p and GSK-3β-mediated neural differentiation

The mechanism of anesthesia neurotoxicity remains largely to be determined. The effects of long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) on neural differentiation and the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We thus identified LncRNA Rik-203 (C130071C03Rik) and studied its role on neural differentiation and its interactions with anesthetic sevoflurane, miRNA and GSK-3β. We found that levels of Rik-203 were higher in hippocampus than other tissues and increased during neural differentiation. Sevoflurane decreased the levels of Rik-203. Rik-203 knockdown reduced mRNA levels of Sox1 and Nestin, the markers of neural progenitor cells, and decreased the count of Sox1 positive cells. RNA-RNA pull-down showed that miR-101a-3p was highly bound to Rik-203. Finally, sevoflurane, knockdown of Rik-203, and miR-101a-3p overexpression all decreased GSK-3β levels. These data suggest that Rik-203 facilitates neural differentiation by inhibiting miR-101a-3p's ability to reduce GSK-3β levels and that LncRNAs would serve as the mechanism of the anesthesia neurotoxicity.

Mmu-miR-92a-2-5p targets TLR2 to relieve Schistosoma japonicum-induced liver fibrosis

According to conservative estimates, >230 million people are infected with schistosomiasis,which becomes one of the most common parasitic diseases. This study focuses on investigating in vivo and in vitro effects of mmu-miR-92a-2-5p in Schistosoma japonicum-induced liver fibrosis by targeting TLR2. Through bioinformatic analysis, the overexpression of TLR2 and the down-regulation of mmu-miR-92a-2-5p were revealed in the progression of S. japonicum-induced liver fibrosis. BALB/C mice were taken advantage to construct normal control and schistosomiasis liver fibrosis (SLF) model. The mice in model groups were transfected recombinant lentivirus (Lenti-mmu-miR-92a-2-5p or Lenti-NC) to alter the expression of mmu-miR-92a-2-5p in vivo. HE and Masson staining were employed to observe the pathological changes and collagenous fibrosis. QRT-PCR showed that mmu-miR-92a-2-5p was decreased while TLR2 was elevated in the infected groups. However, lenti-mmu-miR-92a-2-5p group could inhibit liver fibrosis. Then the effect of mmu-miR-92a-2-5p on S. japonicum-induced liver fibrosis including cell apoptosis rates, proliferation and proteins related to liver fibrosis was examined in NIH-3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Moreover, the association between mmu-miR-92a-2-5p and TLR2 was detected by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay and the expression of cytokines IL-4, IFN-γ and TNF-α in SLF model was detected by ELISA. Further, the knockout of TLR2 in C57BL/6J mice was used to confirm the association between mmu-miR-92a-2-5p and TLR2. Thus, these findings demonstrated that mmu-miR-92a-2-5p inhibited S. japonicum-induced liver fibrosis by targeting TLR2 in vitro and in vivo.

LncRNA Riken-201 and Riken-203 modulates neural development by regulating the Sox6 through sequestering miRNAs

Objectives

Long non‐coding RNAs (LncRNAs) play important roles in epigenetic regulatory function during the development processes. In this study, we found that through alternative splicing, LncRNA C130071C03Riken variants Riken‐201 (Riken‐201) and Riken‐203 (Riken‐203) are both expressed highly in brain, and increase gradually during neural differentiation. However, the function of Rik‐201 and Rik‐203 is unknown.

Materials and methods

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs); RNA sequencing; gene expression of mRNAs, LncRNAs and miRNAs; over‐expression and RNA interference of genes; flow cytometry; real‐time quantity PCR; and Western blot were used in the studies. RNA pull‐down assay and PCR were employed to detect any miRNA that attached to Rik‐201 and Rik‐203. The binding of miRNA with mRNA of Sox6 was presented by the luciferase assay.

Results

Repression of Rik‐201 and Rik‐203 inhibited neural differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells. Moreover, Rik‐201 and Rik‐203 functioned as the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to repress the function of miR‐96 and miR‐467a‐3p, respectively, and modulate the expression of Sox6 to further regulate neural differentiation. Knockout of the Rik‐203 and Rik‐201 induced high ratio of brain developmental retardation. Further we found that C/EBPβ might potentially activated the transcription of Rik‐201 and Rik‐203.

Conclusions

These findings identify the functional role of Rik‐201 and Rik‐203 in facilitating neural differentiation and further brain development, and elucidate the underlying miRNAs‐Sox6‐associated molecular mechanisms.

The miR-590/Acvr2a/Terf1 Axis Regulates Telomere Elongation and Pluripotency of Mouse iPSCs

During reprogramming, telomere re-elongation is important for pluripotency acquisition and ensures the high quality of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), but the regulatory mechanism remains largely unknown. Our study showed that fully reprogrammed mature iPSCs or mouse embryonic stem cells expressed higher levels of miR-590-3p and miR-590-5p than pre-iPSCs. Ectopic expression of either miR-590-3p or miR-590-5p in pre-iPSCs improved telomere elongation and pluripotency. Activin receptor II A (Acvr2a) is the downstream target and mediates the function of miR-590. Downregulation of Acvr2a promoted telomere elongation and pluripotency. Overexpression of miR-590 or inhibition of ACTIVIN signaling increased telomeric repeat binding factor 1 (Terf1) expression. The p-SMAD2 showed increased binding to the Terf1 promoter in pre-iPSCs compared with mature iPSCs. Downregulation of Terf1 blocked miR-590- or shAcvr2a-mediated promotion of telomere elongation and pluripotency in pre-iPSCs. This study elucidated the role of the miR-590/Acvr2a/Terf1 signaling pathway in modulating telomere elongation and pluripotency in pre-iPSCs.

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miR-590 is critical for telomere elongation and pluripotency of pre-iPSCs

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miR-590 can target Acvr2a to upregulate the expression of Terf1

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miR-590/Acvr2a/Terf1 axis regulates the elongation and pluripotency of pre-iPSCs

Sevoflurane suppresses proliferation by upregulating microRNA-203 in breast cancer cells

Rapid proliferation is one of the critical characteristics of breast cancer. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of breast cancer cell proliferation is largely unclear. The present study indicated that sevoflurane, one of inhalational anesthetics, could significantly suppress breast cancer cell proliferation by arresting cell cycle at G1 phase. Notably, the rescue experiment indicated that miR-203 was upregulated by sevoflurane and mediated the function of sevoflurane on suppressing the breast cancer cell proliferation. The present study indicated the function of the sevoflurane/miR-203 signaling pathway on regulating breast cancer cell proliferation. These results provide mechanistic insight into how the sevoflurane/miR-203 signaling pathway supresses proliferation of breast cancer cells, suggesting the sevoflurane/miR-203 pathway may be a potential target in the treatment of breast cancer.

ATF-3/miR-590/GOLPH3 signaling pathway regulates proliferation of breast cancer

Background

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. Fast growth is the important character of breast cancer, which makes sure the subsequent metastasize and invasion breast cancer. Golgi related genes GOLPH3 has been reported to regulate many kinds of cancers proliferation. However, its upregulator remains largely unknown. miRNA modulate gene expression by post-transcriptional repression to participate in many signaling pathway of breast cancer cell proliferation. miR-590 has been reported to regulate tumorgenesis and could be regulated by its own target ATF-3. But whether miR-590 can be the modulator of Golgi related genes to regulate the breast cancer proliferation is unclear.

Methods

We performed the bioinformatics analysis of survival rate and expression differences of patients using the data of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).Both of MTS and BrdU assays were used for cell proliferation analysis. Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry .qRT-PCR was used for detecting the cell cycle related gene expression. Student’s t-test or One way anova was used for statistics.

Results

We found the upregulation of GOLPH3 in breast cancer samples compared with normal breast tissues, which also was related to the poor prognosis. Overexpression of GOLPH3 significantly promoted proliferation both of MDA-MB-231 cells (ER negative) and MCF-7 cells (ER positive). We further found that miRNA-590-3p could directly target the 3′-UTR of GOLPH3 mRNA to repress its expression. Overexpression of miR-590-3p inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. The rescue experiments indicated that overexpression of GOLPH3 significantly resorted the proliferation inhibited by miR-590-3p. We also found that ATF-3 repressed miR-590-3p expression to modulate miR-590/GOLPH3 pathway to regulate breast cancer cells proliferation.

Conclusions

This study not only suggests that the ATF-3/miR-590/GOLPH3 signaling pathway is critically involved in the proliferation of breast cancer cells, but provides a novel therapeutic target and new insight base on epigenetic regulation for future breast cancer diagnosis and clinical treatment.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4031-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

DNMT1/miR-200a/GOLM1 signaling pathway regulates lung adenocarcinoma cells proliferation

OBJECTIVES

Lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) comprises about 80% of all diagnosed lung cancers. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of LAD cell proliferation is largely unclear. The emergence of microRNAs and molecular-targeted therapies adds a new dimension in our efforts to combat this deadly disease.

METHOD

In this work, the A549 and H1650 human lung cancer cell lines were used in this study. The proliferation was evaluated by the MTT and BrdU assay. The expression level of related proteins was detected by western blot.

RESULT

We reported GOLM1 was highly expressed in LAD cells and associated with low survival ratio and higher grade malignancy. Knockdown of GOLM1 repressed the LAD cell proliferation. Overexpression of GOLM1 promoted the cell proliferation. Further we found that the level of microRNA-200a (miR-200a) expression was low in LAD cells. miR-200a repress GOLM1 expression by directly targeting its 3? UTR. Overexpression of miR-200a repressed the cell proliferation and blocked the increase of LAD cell proliferation caused by GOLM1 overexpression. Further, we found that miR-200 was downregulated by DNMT1.Overexpression of DNMT1 blocked the function of miR-200a on repressing proliferation. We then found that knockdown of DNMT1 repressed LAD cell proliferation, which could be rescued by GOLM1 overexpression.

CONCLUSION

This work revealed the critical function of GOLM1/miR-200a/DNMT1 signaling pathway on regulating LAD cell proliferation, and might lay the foundation for further clinical treatment of LAD.

Small RNA Sequencing Reveals Dlk1-Dio3 Locus-Embedded MicroRNAs as Major Drivers of Ground-State Pluripotency

Ground-state pluripotency is a cell state in which pluripotency is established and maintained through efficient repression of endogenous differentiation pathways. Self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are influenced by ESC-associated microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the "miRNome" of ESCs cultured under conditions favoring ground-state pluripotency. We found that ground-state ESCs express a distinct set of miRNAs compared with ESCs grown in serum. Interestingly, most "ground-state miRNAs" are encoded by an imprinted region on chromosome 12 within the Dlk1-Dio3 locus. Functional analysis revealed that ground-state miRNAs embedded in the Dlk1-Dio3 locus (miR-541-5p, miR-410-3p, and miR-381-3p) promoted pluripotency via inhibition of multi-lineage differentiation and stimulation of self-renewal. Overall, our results demonstrate that ground-state pluripotency is associated with a unique miRNA signature, which supports ground-state self-renewal by suppressing differentiation.

miRNA-338-3p/CDK4 signaling pathway suppressed hepatic stellate cell activation and proliferation

BACKGROUND

Activated hepatic stellate cell (HSC) is the main fibrogenic cell type in the injured liver. miRNA plays an important role in activation and proliferation of HSC.

METHODS

Our previous study examined the expression profiles of microRNAs in quiescent and activated HSC. Real-time PCR and western blot were used to detect the expression of Collagen type I (Col 1) and Alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA). CCK-8 and Edu assay was used to measure the proliferation rate of HSC. Luciferase reporter gene assay was used to tested the binding between miR-338-3p and Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4).

RESULTS

We found overexpression of miR-338-3p could inhibit Col 1 and α-SMA, two major HSC activation markers, whereas miR-338-3p inhibitor could promote them. Besides, miR-338-3p overexpression could suppress the growth rate of HSC. Further, we found that CDK4, a pleiotropic signaling protein, was a direct target gene of miR-338-3p. Moreover, we found that overexpression of CDK4 could block the effects of miR-338-3p.

CONCLUSIONS

We found miR-338-3p is an anti-fibrotic miRNA which inhibits cell activation and proliferation. Our findings suggest that miR-338-3p/CDK4 signaling pathway participates in the regulation of HSC activation and growth and may act as a novel target for further anti-fibrotic therapy.

MiR-590 Promotes Transdifferentiation of Porcine and Human Fibroblasts Toward a Cardiomyocyte-Like Fate by Directly Repressing Specificity Protein 1

BACKGROUND

Reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocyte-like cells represents a promising potential new therapy for treating heart disease, inducing significant improvements in postinfarct ventricular function in rodent models. Because reprogramming factors effective in transdifferentiating rodent cells are not sufficient to reprogram human cells, we sought to identify reprogramming factors potentially applicable to human studies.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Lentivirus vectors expressing Gata4, Mef2c, and Tbx5 (GMT); Hand2 (H), Myocardin (My), or microRNA (miR)-590 were administered to rat, porcine, and human cardiac fibroblasts in vitro. induced cardiomyocyte-like cell production was then evaluated by assessing expression of the cardiomyocyte marker, cardiac troponin T (cTnT), whereas signaling pathway studies were performed to identify reprogramming factor targets. GMT administration induced cTnT expression in ≈6% of rat fibroblasts, but failed to induce cTnT expression in porcine or human cardiac fibroblasts. Addition of H/My and/or miR-590 to GMT administration resulted in cTNT expression in ≈5% of porcine and human fibroblasts and also upregulated the expression of the cardiac genes, MYH6 and TNNT2. When cocultured with murine cardiomyocytes, cTnT-expressing porcine cardiac fibroblasts exhibited spontaneous contractions. Administration of GMT plus either H/My or miR-590 alone also downregulated fibroblast genes COL1A1 and COL3A1. miR-590 was shown to directly suppress the zinc finger protein, specificity protein 1 (Sp1), which was able to substitute for miR-590 in inducing cellular reprogramming.

CONCLUSIONS

These data support porcine studies as a surrogate for testing human cardiac reprogramming, and suggest that miR-590-mediated repression of Sp1 represents an alternative pathway for enhancing human cardiac cellular reprogramming.

Sevoflurane represses the self-renewal ability by regulating miR-7a,7b/Klf4 signalling pathway in mouse embryonic stem cells

Sevoflurane is a frequently-used clinical inhalational anaesthetic and can cause toxicity to embryos during foetal development. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from the inner cell mass of blastospheres and can be used as a useful model of early development. Here, we found that sevoflurane significantly influenced self-renewal ability of mESCs on stemness maintenance and cell proliferation. The cell cycle was arrested via G1 phase delay. We further found that sevoflurane upregulated expression of miR-7a,7b to repress self-renewal. Next we performed rescue experiments and found that after adding miR-7a,7b inhibitor into mESCs treated with sevoflurane, its influence on self-renewal could be blocked. Further we identified stemness factor Klf4 as the direct target of miR-7a,7b. Overexpression of Klf4 restored self-renewal ability repressed by miR-7a,7b or sevoflurane. In this work, we determined that sevoflurane repressed self-renewal ability by regulating the miR-7a,7b/Klf4 signalling pathway in mESCs. Our study demonstrated molecular mechanism underlying the side effects of sevoflurane during early development, laying the foundation for studies on safe usage of inhalational anaesthetic during non-obstetric surgery.

A miRNAs panel promotes the proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer cells by targeting GABBR1

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in the regulation of colorectal cancer. Despite the expression of miR-17-92 cluster in cancer has been gradually revealed, the role of each individual miRNAs in colorectal cancer still remains unclear. We studied the impact of miR-106a/b, miR-20a/b, and miR-17 of miR-17-92 cluster on colorectal cancer cells. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) were used to test these five miRNAs expression in colorectal cancer cell line HCT116. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and Transwell invasion assays were used to explore the effects of these five miRNAs in colorectal cancer cells. Luciferase reporter assay, RT-PCR, and western blotting were performed to validate the interaction of these five miRNAs with the gamma-amino-butyric acid type B receptor 1(GABBR1). We found that these five miRNAs were significantly upregulated in colorectal cancer samples compared with normal tissues. Forced expression of these five miRNAs significantly promoted HCT116 and HT-29 cells proliferation and invasion. We further found that these five miRNAs function as oncogenes in colorectal cancer by specifically binding to the 3-untranslated regions (3'UTR) of GABBR1.Furthermore, inhibition of GABBR1 could mimic the function of miRNAs in HCT116 cells, while overexpression of GABBR1 blocked the function of miRNAs-promoted proliferation and invasion. In conclusion, miR-106a/b, miR-20a/b, and miR-17 contribute to the proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer by targeting their common target gene, GABBR1, and played a critical role in the proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer.

MiR-134-Mbd3 axis regulates the induction of pluripotency

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional modulators of gene expression and play an important role in reprogramming process; however, relatively little is known about the underlying regulatory mechanism of miRNAs on how they epigenetically modulate reprogramming and pluripotency. Here, we report that the expression level of microRNA-134 (miR-134) was low in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) but significantly up-regulated during neural differentiation, while down-regulated during the induction of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Inhibition of miR-134 by miR-134 sponge promoted the efficiency of reprogramming which also was highly similar to mESCs. On the contrary, up-regulation of miR-134 repressed iPSCs induction. We also found that inhibition of miR-134 promoted the maturation of pre-iPSCs and increased its pluripotency. We also showed that miR-134 can directly target to the pluripotency related factor Methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 3 (Mdb3) 3' untranslated regions (3' UTR) to down-regulate its expression. And Mbd3 was found to promote the induction of iPSCs and could block the repression of reprogramming caused by overexpression of miR-134. This work revealed the critical function of miR-134-Mbd3 axis on regulating reprogramming and pluripotency of iPSCs derived from the NPCs, and might provide an insight into the miR-134-Mbd3 axis on regulating the iPSCs quality for further clinical treatment.

Common miR-590 Variant rs6971711 Present Only in African Americans Reduces miR-590 Biogenesis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as important regulators of cardiac development, hypertrophy and fibrosis. Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic variations which cause alterations in miRNA:target interactions can lead to disease. We hypothesized that genetic variations in miRNAs that regulate cardiac hypertrophy/fibrosis might be involved in generation of the cardiac phenotype in patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). To investigate this question, we Sanger sequenced 18 miRNA genes previously implicated in myocyte hypertrophy/fibrosis and apoptosis, using genomic DNA isolated from the leukocytes of 199 HCM patients. We identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6971711, C57T SNP) at the 17th position of mature miR-590-3p (= 57th position of pre-miR-590) that is common in individuals of African ancestry. SNP frequency was higher in African American HCM patients (n = 55) than ethnically-matched controls (n = 100), but the difference was not statistically significant (8.2% vs. 6.5%; p = 0.5). Using a cell culture system, we discovered that presence of this SNP resulted in markedly lower levels of mature miR-590-5p (39 ± 16%, p<0.003) and miR-590-3p (20 ± 2%, p<0.003), when compared with wild-type (WT) miR-590, without affecting levels of pri-miR-590 and pre-miR-590. Consistent with this finding, the SNP resulted in reduced target suppression when compared to WT miR-590 (71% suppression by WT vs 60% suppression by SNP, p<0.03). Since miR-590 can regulate TGF-β, Activin A and Akt signaling, SNP-induced reduction in miR-590 biogenesis could influence cardiac phenotype by de-repression of these signaling pathways. Since the SNP is only present in African Americans, population studies in this patient population would be valuable to investigate effects of this SNP on myocyte function and cardiac physiology.

Sevoflurane inhibits embryonic stem cell self-renewal and subsequent neural differentiation by modulating the let-7a-Lin28 signaling pathway

The commonly used inhalational anesthetic, sevoflurane, can cause toxicity to the central nervous system of the developing fetus. Lin28 has been reported to regulate let-7a, thereby modulating embryo development, neurodegeneration, and even neuron-related tumorigenesis. We demonstrate that pregnant mice receiving sevoflurane treatment during the early stage of pregnancy give birth to fewer offspring presenting a lower birth weight. We have also treated mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) with sevoflurane for 6 h and determined that mESCs self-renewal is repressed, and that differentiation is initiated earlier than in controls. We have induced neural differentiation in the treated mESCs and determined that their neurogenesis is weakened. Furthermore, sevoflurane upregulates the level of let-7a, which might repress mESC self-renewal by directly targeting the Lin28 3'-untranslated region. Lin28 overexpression attenuates the influence of sevoflurane or of let-7a on the self-renewal of mESCs and their subsequent neural differentiation. The let-7a inhibitor also abolishes the influence of sevoflurane. Thus, the let-7a-Lin28 pathway is involved in the sevoflurane-induced inhibition of ESC self-renewal and subsequent neurogenesis. Our study demonstrates the molecular mechanism underlying the side effects of sevoflurane during early development, laying the foundation for studies on the safe and reasonable usage of other inhalational anesthetics.

LincRNA1230 inhibits the differentiation of mouse ES cells towards neural progenitors

In vitro, mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate into many somatic cell types, including neurons and glial cells. When cultured in serum-free medium, ES cells convert spontaneously and efficiently to a neural fate. Previous studies have shown that the neural conversion of mouse ES cells includes both the participation of neural-specific transcription factors and the regulation of epigenetic modifications. However, the intracellular mechanism underlying this intrinsic transition still remains to be further elucidated. Herein, we describe a long intergenic non-coding RNA, LincRNA1230, which participates in the regulation of the neural lineage specification of mouse ES cells. The ectopic forced expression of LincRNA1230 dramatically inhibited mouse ES cells from adopting a neural cell fate, while LincRNA1230 knockdown promoted the conversion of mouse ES cells towards neural progenitors. Mechanistic studies have shown that LincRNA1230 inhibits the activation of early neural genes, such as Pax6 and Sox1, through the modulation of bivalent modifications (tri-methylation of histone3 lysine4 and histone3 lysine27) at the promoters of these genes. The interaction of LincRNA1230 with Wdr5 blocked the localization of Wdr5 at the promoters of early neural genes, thereby inhibiting the enrichment of H3K4me3 modifications at these loci. Collectively, these findings revealed a crucial role for LincRNA1230 in the regulation of the neural differentiation of mouse ES cells.

miR-708/LSD1 axis regulates the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women worldwide. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs that regulate various biological processes, including breast cancer. miR‐708 played an important role in a variety of cancers. However, its involvement in breast cancer remains largely unclear. In this study, we found that forced the expression of miR‐708 in breast cancer cell lines decreased cell proliferation and invasion, whereas inhibition of miR‐708 increased cell growth and invasion. miR‐708 could directly target the LSD1 3′UTR to downregulate the expression. Further studies suggested that inhibition of LSD1 could phenocopied function of the miR‐708 overexpression in MDA‐MB‐231 cells .Overexpression of LSD1 could counteract the effects of miR‐708 on the proliferation and invasion. Taken together, the results indicate that miR‐708 may function as a tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer development, and miR‐708/LSD1 axis may be a therapeutic intervention in breast cancer in the future.

miR-548d-3p/TP53BP2 axis regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of breast cancer cells

Fast growth and hardly any apoptosis are important characteristics of breast cancer, which assure the spread via invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells. Inhibition of fast proliferation and induction of apoptosis are critical way to cure this cancer. microRNAs (miRNAs) had been increasingly reported to be the critical regulator of tumorigenesis. In our study, we found that increasing copy number of miR-548d-2-3p is critically involved poor prognosis. We overexpressed miR-548d-3p in MDA-MB-231cells and found that the proliferation was promoted significantly, whereas the inhibition of miR-548d-3p repressed the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells and also induced the increase in apoptosis. Additionally, we found that miR-548d-3p downregulated the expression of TP53BP2 by directly targeting the 3'UTR. We also found that knockdown of TP53BP2 significantly resorted the proliferation and apoptosis regulated by miR-548d-3p inhibitor. Our study showed that miR-548d-3p/TP53BP2 pathway is critically involved in the proliferation and apoptosis of breast cancer cells and may be new therapeutic target of breast cancer cells.

Crosstalk between stem cell and cell cycle machineries

Pluripotent stem cells, defined by an unlimited self-renewal capacity and an undifferentiated state, are best typified by embryonic stem cells. These cells have a unique cell cycle compared to somatic cells as defined by a rapid progression through the cell cycle and a minimal time spent in G1. Recent reports indicate that pluripotency and cell cycle regulation are mechanistically linked. In this review, we discuss the reciprocal co-regulation of these processes, how this co-regulation may prevent differentiation, and how cellular reprogramming can re-establish the unique cell cycle regulation in induced pluripotent stem cells.

The role of EMT and MET in cancer dissemination

Metastatic cancer cells are lethal. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that bolster the conversion from benign to malignant progression is key for treating these heterogeneous and resistant neoplasms. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a conserved cellular program that alters cell shape, adhesion and movement. The shift to a more mesenchymal-like phenotype can promote tumor cell intravasation of surrounding blood vessels and emigration to a new organ, yet may not be necessary for extravasation or colonization into that environment. Lymphatic dissemination, on the other hand, may not require EMT. This review presents emerging data on the modes by which tumor cells promote EMT/MET via microRNA and prepare the pre-metastatic niche via exosomes.