Converging pathways involving microRNA-206 and the RNA-binding protein KSRP control post-transcriptionally utrophin A expression in skeletal muscle.
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ABSTRACT: Several reports have previously highlighted the potential role of miR-206 in the post-transcriptional downregulation of utrophin A in cultured cells. Along those lines, we recently identified K-homology splicing regulator protein (KSRP) as an important negative regulator in the post-transcriptional control of utrophin A in skeletal muscle. We sought to determine whether these two pathways act together to downregulate utrophin A expression in skeletal muscle. Surprisingly, we discovered that miR-206 overexpression in cultured cells and dystrophic muscle fibers causes upregulation of endogenous utrophin A levels. We further show that this upregulation of utrophin A results from the binding of miR-206 to conserved sites located in the 3'-UTR (untranslated region) of KSRP, thus causing the subsequent inhibition of KSRP expression. This miR-206-mediated decrease in KSRP levels leads, in turn, to an increase in the expression of utrophin A due to a reduction in the activity of this destabilizing RNA-binding protein. Our work shows that miR-206 can oscillate between direct repression of utrophin A expression via its 3'-UTR and activation of its expression through decreased availability of KSRP and interactions with AU-rich elements located within the 3'-UTR of utrophin A. Our study thus reveals that two apparent negative post-transcriptional pathways can act distinctively as molecular switches causing repression or activation of utrophin A expression.
SUBMITTER: Amirouche A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3973319 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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