Regulation of UHRF1 by microRNA-378 modulates medulloblastoma cell proliferation and apoptosis
ONCOLOGY REPORTS
Authors: Zhang, Zhen-Yu; Zhu, Bin; Zhao, Xin-Wei; Zhan, Yun-Bo; Bao, Jian-Ji; Zhou, Jin-Qiao; Zhang, Feng-Jiang; Yu, Bin; Liu, Jun; Wang, Yan-Min; Bai, Ya-Hui; Hong, Jin; Liu, Xian-Zhi
Abstract
A previous study revealed that ubiquitin-like with PHD and RING finger domains 1 (UHRF1) promoted cell proliferation and was a potential biomarker in medulloblastoma (MB). In the present study, we reported that miR-378 inhibited the expression of UHRF1 to affect the proliferation of MB through competitive binding to the same region of its 3'-UTR. We found that the expression of miR-378 was significantly downregulated in MB tissues and inversely correlated with the expression of UHRF1. Western blot analysis revealed that overexpression of miR-378 led to the suppression of UHRF1. Moreover, a dual-luciferase assay demonstrated that miR-378 negatively regulated the activity of target gene UHRF1 by binding to its 3'-UTR. An in vitro assay revealed that overexpression of miR-378 suppressed MB cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis. Ectopic expression of UHRF1 rescued miR-378-suppressed cell proliferation and miR-378-promoted cell apoptosis. Collectively, the present study demonstrated that miR-378 could inhibit the proliferation of MB by downregulation of UHRF1 and act as a potential therapeutic target against MB.
Specific protein 1, c-Abl and ERK1/2 form a regulatory loop
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
Authors: Long, Jiaoyue; Liao, Guoning; Wang, Yinna; Tang, Dale D.
Abstract
The tyrosine kinase c-Abl participates in the regulation of various cellular functions including cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, smooth muscle contraction and cancer progression. However, knowledge regarding transcriptional regulation of c-Abl is surprisingly limited. Sp1 is a founding member of the Sp1 transcription factor family that has been implicated in housekeeping gene expression, tumor cell proliferation and differentiation. Here, we show that knockdown and rescue ofSp1 affected growth factor-mediated c-Abl expressionincells. c-Abl promoter activitywas also affected by Sp1 knockdown. This is the first evidence to suggest that Sp1 is an important transcription factor to regulate c-Abl expression. In addition, Sp1 phosphorylation at Thr-453 and Thr-739 has been proposed to regulate its activity in Drosophila cells. We unexpectedly found that growth factors did not induce Sp1 phosphorylation at these two residues. In contrast, growth factor stimulation upregulated Sp1 expression. Intriguingly, inhibition ofERK1 and ERK2 (ERK1/2, also known as MAPK3 and MAPK1, respectively) reduced expression of Sp1 and c-Abl. Furthermore, c-Abl knockdown diminished ERK1/2 phosphorylation and Sp1 expression. Taken together, these studies suggest that Sp1 can modulate c-Abl expression at transcription level. Conversely, c-Abl affects ERK1/2 activation and Sp1 expression in cells.