Project description:microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs, which promote either mRNAs degradation or block their translation through binding to partially complementary sequences of their target mRNAs. We have previously isolated a subpopulation with accelerated baseline motility (MG cells) or an immotile one (non-MG cells) from a colon cancer cell line (HCT116). In this study, using these subpopulations, we identified miRNAs, which were involved in acquisition of a cell migratory phenotype.
Project description:Gene expression profiles were generated using RNA-sequencing from migratory and non-migratory B-cells after exposure to conditioned medium of breast cancer cells, either containing or depleted from extracellular vesicles. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate how breast cancer cell derived extracellular vesicles induce specific molecular pathways involved in B-cell migration and B-cell infiltration.
Project description:Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) are characterized by arm-wide chromosomal alterations. Loss at 14q is associated with disease aggressiveness in ccRCC, which responds poorly to chemotherapeutics. The 14q locus contains one of the largest miRNA clusters in the human genome; however, little is known about the contribution of these miRNAs to ccRCC pathogenesis. In this regard, we investigated the expression pattern of selected miRNAs at the 14q32 locus in TCGA kidney tumors and in ccRCC cell lines. We validated that the miRNA cluster is downregulated in ccRCC (and cell lines) as well as in papillary kidney tumors relative to normal kidney tissues and primary renal proximal tubule epithelial (RPTEC) cells. We demonstrated that agents modulating expression of DNMT1 (e.g., 5-Aza-deoxycytidine) could modulate miRNA expression in ccRCC cell lines. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA, a Lysophospholipid mediator elevated in ccRCC) not only increased labile iron content but also modulated expression of 14q32 miRNAs. Through an overexpression approach targeting a subset of 14q32 miRNAs (specifically at subcluster A: miR-431, miR-432, miR-127, and miR-433) in 769-P cells, we uncovered changes in cellular viability and claudin-1, a tight junction marker. A global proteomic approach was implemented using these miRNA overexpressing cell lines which uncovered ATXN2 as a highly downregulated target, which has a role in chronic kidney disease pathogenesis. Collectively, these findings support a contribution of miRNAs at 14q32 in ccRCC pathogenesis.