Molecular Biology From MicroRNA to Carcinogenesis

Guy Riddihough

Science, AAAS, Washington, DC 20005, USA

Misregulation of microRNA (miRNA) function has been implicated in cancer. However, the precise role of miRNAs in tumorigenesis has been unclear. High mobility group A2 protein (Hmga2) is a small, non-histone, chromatin-associated protein found in a number of benign and malignant tumors, where the gene is often truncated at the 3' end. Mayr et al. now show that it is the loss of the noncoding 3' untranslated region of the Hmga2 messenger RNA, and specifically of regulator sites for the let-7 miRNA, that causes the overexpression of Hmga2, and that this overexpression contributes to the progression of carcinogenesis both in a tissue culture assay and in nude mice.

C. Mayr, M. T. Hemann, D. P. Bartel, Disrupting the pairing between let-7 and Hmga2 enhances oncogenic transformation. Science 315, 1576-1579 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]

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