miR-3156-3p is downregulated in HPV-positive cervical cancer and performs as a tumor-suppressive miRNA
VIROLOGY JOURNAL
Authors: Xia, Yu-Fang; Pei, Gui-Hua; Wang, Ning; Che, Yan-Ci; Yu, Feng-Sheng; Yin, Fu-Fen; Liu, Hai-Xia; Luo, Bing; Wang, Yan-Kui
Abstract
Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer in females in developing countries. The two viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 mediate the oncogenic activities of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV), and HR-HPV, especially HPV16 or/and HPV18 (HPV16/18) play critical roles in CC through different pathways. microRNAs (miRNAs) may be associated with CC pathogenesis. Researches have indicated that human papillomavirus (HPV) may regulate cellular miRNA expression through viral E6 and E7. Herein, the purposes of this study were to identify the relationship between HPV infection and aberrantly expressed miRNAs and to investigate their pathogenic roles in CC. Methods: miRNA expression was assessed using a microRNAs microarray in HPV16 E6- and E7-integrated HPV-negative HT-3 cell lines and mock vector-transfected HT-3 cells. The microarray results were validated, and the expression of miR3156-3p was identified in HPV-positive and-negative CC cell lines as well as primary CC and normal cervical epithelium tissues using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), flow cytometry, transwell analysis, tube formation, and Western blotting were used to identify the functional role of miR3156- 3p in CaSki, SiHa, and HeLa cell lines. Results: Six underexpressed microRNAs (miR-3156-3p, 6779-3p, 4779-3p, 6841-3p, 454-5p and 656-5p) were consistently identified in HPV16 E6-and E7-integrated HT-3 cells. Further investigation confirmed a significant decrease of miR-31563p in HPV16/18 positive CC lesions. CCK8, flow cytometry, transwell analysis, tube formation assays, and Western blotting of the CC cell lines with miR-3156-3p over/under-expression in vitro showed that miR-3156-3p was involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, neovascularization, and SLC6A6 regulation. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that miR-3156-3p plays a suppressor-miRNA role in CC and that its expression is associated with HR-HPV infection.
Identification of genetic variation in the lncRNA HOTAIR associated with HPV16-related cervical cancer pathogenesis
CELLULAR ONCOLOGY
Authors: Saha, Sweta Sharma; Chowdhury, Rahul Roy; Mondal, Nidhu Ranjan; Chakravarty, Biman; Chatterjee, Tanmay; Roy, Sudipta; Sengupta, Sharmila
Abstract
Previously, over-expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) HOTAIR has been found to be associated with the invasive and metastatic capacities of several epithelial cancers, including cervical cancer (CaCx). Here, we aimed at identifying functionally relevant genetic variants that may be employed to differentiate between clinically distinct CaCx subtypes, i.e., those exhibiting high HOTAIR levels and molecular signatures of metastasis and those lacking such signatures in the presence of low HOTAIR expression levels. Genomic DNA isolated from various cervical tissue samples (characterized by histopathology and HPV status) was used for HOTAIR amplicon sequencing, followed by validation of the findings by Sanger sequencing. The impact of the genetic variants found on the secondary structure of HOTAIR and the concomitant alterations in miRNA binding sites were determined through in silico analysis, followed by miRNA expression analysis by quantitative real-time PCR and confirmation of miRNA binding using a luciferase reporter assay. We found that rs2366152C was over-represented [ORage-adjusted = 2.58 (1.23-5.57); p = 0.014] in low HOTAIR expressing HPV positive CaCx cases compared to HPV negative controls. This genetic variant showed the propensity of a secondary structure alteration and gain of a miR-22 binding site in HOTAIR, which was found to be concordant with miR-22 over-expression in low HOTAIR CaCx cases compared to controls. We found that miR-22 expression negatively correlated with HOTAIR and E7 expression in HPV16 positive cases and in an E7 transfected HPV negative CaCx-derived cell line (C33A), but was not altered in high HOTAIR cases compared to controls. Reduced luciferase activity of a HOTAIR rs2366152C expression plasmid in C33A cells through miR-22 co-transfection confirmed the ability of miR-22 to specifically target rs2366152C-harbouring HOTAIR lncRNA in CaCx cells, ultimately leading to its down-regulation. Our data indicate that rs2366152C not only has the potential to serve as a marker for singling out CaCx cases lacking metastatic molecular signatures, but also to explain the functional inactivation of HOTAIR in these cases, including the mechanism of its down-regulation.