Regulation of the Endoribonuclease RNase-L by the miR-29 Family of MicroRNAs
Lee, Teresa Yuntze
Author
Advisor
Date
Embargo until
Language
Book title
Journal
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Type
Research Area
Jurisdiction
Files
Other Titles
See at
Abstract
The endoribonuclease RNase-L is the terminal component of an interferon (IFN) -regulated RNA decay pathway known as the 2'-5'-oligoadenylate (2-5A) system whose established functions include antimicrobial and tumor suppressive activities. RNase-L enzymatic activity requires the binding of the small molecule 2-5A, leading to RNase-L dimerization and cleavage of single-stranded RNA. RNase-L levels are controlled post-transcriptionally by the 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) of its messenger RNA (mRNA), which exerts a strong negative regulatory effect on RNase-L expression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that repress expression of target mRNAs by binding to regions of complementarity often located in their 3'UTRs. The miR-29 family has been shown to play a tumor suppressive role in several cancers, including chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and has many known oncogenic targets. Here, we report that the miR-29 family represses expression of RNase-L protein across several cell types. Using a luciferase reporter, we showed that miR-29 acts via four target sites within the RNASEL 3'UTR. Mutation of all sites is required for abrogation of miR-29 repression. MiR-29 repression of RNase-L expression modulates its biologic activities, such as IFN-induced protection against encephalomyocarditis virus infection. In light of the reported tumor suppressive role of miR-29 in K562 CML cells and miR-29 repression of RNase-L expression in these cells, we generated K562 cells with stable Rnase-L knockdown and demonstrated that loss of RNase-L expression inhibits cell proliferation in vitro as well as tumor growth in a nude mouse xenograft model. Our findings identify a previously unknown miRNA regulator of RNase-L expression and support a novel oncogenic role for RNase-L in CML and potentially other malignancies.
