miR-1202 acts as anti-oncomiR in myeloid leukaemia by down-modulating GATA-1S expression

Transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) is a Down syndrome-related pre-leukaemic condition characterized by somatic mutations in the haematopoietic transcription factor GATA-1 that result in exclusive production of its shorter isoform (GATA-1S). Given the common hallmark of altered miRNA expression profiles in haematological malignancies and the pro-leukaemic role of GATA-1S, we aimed to search for miRNAs potentially able to modulate the expression of GATA-1 isoforms. Starting from an in silico prediction of miRNA binding sites in the GATA-1 transcript, miR-1202 came into our sight as potential regulator of GATA-1 expression. Expression studies in K562 cells revealed that miR-1202 directly targets GATA-1, negatively regulates its expression, impairs GATA-1S production, reduces cell proliferation, and increases apoptosis sensitivity. Furthermore, data from TAM and myeloid leukaemia patients provided substantial support to our study by showing that miR-1202 down-modulation is accompanied by increased GATA-1 levels, with more marked effects on GATA-1S. These findings indicate that miR-1202 acts as an anti-oncomiR in myeloid cells and may impact leukaemogenesis at least in part by down-modulating GATA-1S levels.

Multiple Pre-Treatment miRNAs Levels in Untreated Major Depressive Disorder Patients Predict Early Response to Antidepressants and Interact with Key Pathways

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a life-impairing disorder, and early successful treatment is important for a favorable prognosis. However, early response to antidepressants differs widely among individuals, and is difficult to predict pre-treatment. As miRNAs have been reported to play important roles in depression, identification of miRNAs associated with antidepressant treatment responses and their interacting genes and pathways will be beneficial in understanding the predictors and molecular mechanisms of depression treatment. This randomized control trial examined miRNAs correlated with the early therapeutic effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; paroxetine or sertraline) and mirtazapine monotherapy. Before medication, we comprehensively analyzed the miRNA expression of 92 depressed participants and identified genes and pathways interacting with miRNAs. A total of 228 miRNAs were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms improvements after 2 weeks of SSRIs treatment, with miR-483.5p showing the most robust correlation. These miRNAs are involved in 21 pathways, including TGF-β, glutamatergic synapse, long-term depression, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Using these miRNAs enabled us to predict SSRI response at week 2 with a 57% difference. This study shows that pre-treatment levels of miRNAs could be used to predict early responses to antidepressant administration, a knowledge of genes, and an identification of genes and pathways associated with the antidepressant response.

Integrated analysis of global gene and microRNA expression profiling associated with aplastic anaemia

AIMS

Aplastic anaemia is a rare disorder characterized by peripheral pancytopenia and hypocellular bone marrow. Recent advancement of miRNA technologies, new promising therapy using small molecule inhibitors was suggested as efficient treatment option. Therefore, the study was undertaken to identify the significantly altered miRNA (miR-1202-upregulation) among aplastic anaemia patients compared to healthy controls by global miRNA expression profiling of bone marrow.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

miRNA and gene expression profiles for all the categories of aplastic anaemia patients and healthy controls were generated using Affymetrix probes.

KEY FINDINGS

The study was based on freely available miRNA and host gene expression in NCBI GEO dataset. Microarray based gene expression profiling (GSE3807) revealed that RAPGEF5 and MANEA genes were significantly downregulated among aplastic anaemia patients compared to healthy controls and the expression of these genes were again upregulated after application of therapy among those patients compared to pre-therapy condition. RAPGEF5 was involved in Rap1 and Ras signaling pathways those were significantly enriched among aplastic anaemia patients and could be relevant for that phenotype. Microarray based miRNA expression profiling (GSE82095) also identified that miR-1202 was significantly upregulated among aplastic anaemia patients compared to controls and can potentially target RAPGEF5 and MANEA genes based on target prediction of miRNAs.

SIGNIFICANCE

Thus synthetic miRNA inhibitors of miR-1202 can be used as a possible therapeutic agent to target miR-1202 and this inhibition can lead to its corresponding target gene upregulation for reversal of disease phenotype.

Clinical value of combined detection of miR-1202 and miR-195 in early diagnosis of cervical cancer

The clinical value of the combined detection of miR-1202 and miR-195 in the early diagnosis of cervical cancer was studied. A retrospective analysis of 70 cervical cancer patients treated in the The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University and Yunnan Cancer Hospital from October 2015 to December 2017 was performed, and the lesion tissues were used as the experimental group. Normal cervical tissues from another 67 healthy females confirmed by physical examination at the same period were selected as the control group. The FIGO staging criteria were used for staging of the cervical cancer patients, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method was used for the detection of the expression of miR-1202 and miR-195 in different tissues, and the receiver operating curve (ROC) was used for the analysis of the application values of miR-1202 and miR-195 diagnosis alone and their combined diagnosis in early cervical cancer patients. The levels of miR-1202 and miR-195 in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The differences were significant in the different stages of cervical cancer tissues (P<0.05). The later the staging of cervical cancer tissues were, the lower the levels of miR-1202 and miR-195 were. The sensitivities and area under the curve (AUC) values of miR-1202 and miR-195 in the combined diagnosis of early cervical cancer were significantly higher than those of miR-1202 and miR-195 alone. The expression levels of miR-1202 and miR-195 in the cervical cancer patients are different in different stages. Guiding clinical treatment and prognosis according to the results of combined detection is beneficial for the development of treatment for cervical cancer patients and for prognostic judgement, worthy of popularization and application.

MiR-1202 suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma cells migration and invasion by targeting cyclin dependent kinase 14

Currently, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients still have poor survival outcomes mainly due to the powerful mobility of HCC cells. Increasing evidences hint that abnormally expressed miRNAs are capable to modulate HCC cells invasion and migration. MiR-1202 has been proposed as a ponderable molecular tumor marker in a variety of tumors. Here, results from real-time PCR indicated the decreased expression of miR-1202 in HCC. Clinically, statistical analysis showed that miR-1202 under-expression was closely associated with metastasis-related clinicopathologic characteristics. In addition, 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates of HCC patients with high miR-1202 expression were much better than that in low miR-1202 group. Functionally, gain- and loss-of -function studies were performed to investigate the roles of miR-1202. Intriguingly, Would healing assay and Transwell assays indicated that elevated miR-1202 weakened HCC cells migration and invasion abilities, while miR-1202 knockdown presented the contrary effects. Furthermore, cyclin dependent kinase 14 (CDK14) was identified as a downstream target of miR-1202 by bioinformatics analysis, Dual luciferase reporter assay, detection of CDK14 expression and Pearson correlation analysis. More importantly, rescue experiments demonstrated that CDK14 mediated miR-1202 to exert its anti-tumor effects, which further confirmed the above finding. Taken together, miR-1202 may act as a new biomarker and potential therapeutic target for HCC.

MiR-1202 functions as a tumor suppressor in glioma cells by targeting Rab1A

Aberrant expression of microRNAs correlates with the development and progression of human cancers by targeting downstream proteins. MiR-1202 is downregulated in ovarian cancer and clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma; however, its role in glioma remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the expression and the role of miR-1202 and to elucidate its regulatory mechanism in glioma. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to measure miR-1202 expression in both glioma tissues and cell lines. The findings showed that the miR-1202 expression decreased dramatically in clinical glioma tissues and cell lines, and miR-1202 expression was inversely correlated with the expression of Rab1A. Using bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays, we identified Rab1A as a novel and direct target of miR-1202. In vitro, overexpression of miR-1202 inhibited glioma cell proliferation and induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis through targeting Rab1A, whereas suppression of miR-1202 promoted cell proliferation and inhibited endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis. Similarly, silencing Rab1A with small interfering RNA also suppressed glioma cell growth and induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis. Taken together, our data indicate that miR-1202 suppresses proliferation and induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis through targeting and inhibiting Rab1A in glioma cells. These results suggest miR-1202 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of glioma patients.