Stress-induced Reversal of MicroRNA Repression and mRNA P-body Localization in Human Cells

In metazoa, microRNAs (miRNAs) imperfectly base-pair with the 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) of mRNAs and prevent protein accumulation by either repressing translation or inducing mRNA degradation. Examples of specific mRNAs undergoing miRNA-mediated repression are numerous, but whether the repression is a reversible process remains largely unknown. Here, we show that cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT-1) mRNA and reporters bearing the CAT-1 3'UTR or its fragments can be relieved from the miRNA miR-122-induced inhibition in human hepatoma cells in response to different stress conditions. The derepression of CAT-1 mRNA is accompanied by its release from cytoplasmic processing bodies (P bodies) and its recruitment to polysomes, indicating that P bodies act as storage sites for mRNAs inhibited by miRNAs. The derepression requires binding of HuR, an AU-rich-element-binding ELAV family protein, to the 3'UTR of CAT-1 mRNA. We propose that proteins interacting with the 3'UTR will generally act as modifiers altering the potential of miRNAs to repress gene expression.