[a]Department of Dermatology, Bispebjerg Hospital [b]Department of Plastic Surgery and Burn Unit [c]Department of Pathology [d]Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet [e]Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Melanoma Res. 2011 Mar 30.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules involved in gene regulation. Aberrant expression of miRNA has been associated with the development or progression of several diseases, including cancer. In a previous study, we found that the expression of miRNA-125b (miR-125b) was two-fold lower in malignant melanoma producing lymph node micrometastases than in nonmetastasizing tumors. To get further insight into the functional role of miR-125b, we assessed whether its overexpression or silencing affects apoptosis, proliferation, or senescence in melanoma cell lines. We showed that overexpression of miR-125b induced typical senescent cell morphology, including increased cytoplasmatic/nucleus ratio and intensive cytoplasmatic β-galactosidase expression. In contrast, inhibition of miR-125b resulted in 30-35% decreased levels of spontaneous apoptosis. We propose that downregulation of miR-125b in an early cutaneous malignant melanoma can contribute to the increased metastatic capability of this tumor.
PMID: 21460750 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Source: National Library of Medicine.
