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Novel functions and targets of miR‐944 in human cervical cancer cells
Author(s) -
Xie Hong,
Lee Linkiat,
Scicluna Patrick,
Kavak Ersen,
Larsson Catharina,
Sandberg Rickard,
Lui WengOnn
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29160
Subject(s) - microrna , cervical cancer , carcinogenesis , cancer research , western blot , biology , cancer , cancer cell , cell growth , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , genetics
Altered expression of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) has been observed in human cervical cancer. However, the biological functions of many of these miRNAs are yet to be discovered. We previously showed that miR‐944 is significantly more abundant in cervical cancer tissues than their normal counterparts. In this study, we investigated the functions and targets of miR‐944 in human cervical cancer cells. MiR‐944 is located in the intron of the tumor protein p63 ( TP63 ) gene, which is frequently overexpressed in cervical carcinomas. Using gain‐ and loss‐of‐function experiments in vitro , we demonstrate that miR‐944 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion, but has no effect on apoptosis, in human cervical cancer cells. To identify the targets of miR‐944 , we performed photoactivatable‐ribonucleoside‐enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing. Among the candidate targets, we validated HECW2 (HECT domain ligase W2) and S100PBP (S100P binding protein) as direct targets of miR‐944 using luciferase reporter assays and western blot analysis. Our findings reveal novel functions and targets of miR‐944 in human cervical cancer cells, which may provide new insights of its role in cervical carcinogenesis.