Abstract 4167: Target mRNA analysis for miR-125a-5p in cervical carcinoma cells.

It has been firmly established that high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with the appearance and persistence of anogenital dysplasia. However, only a small fraction of HPV-infected patients ever develop cervical cancer. Therefore, other factors must contribute for the development of a malignant phenotype in HPV-infected cells. Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression is nowadays recognized as a key factor for the development of several pathologies including cancer. Several studies on the miR-125a-5p function have suggested a tumor suppressor role in diverse cell types. Our previous results shown that miR-125a-5p induced cell-cycle arrest, proliferation inhibition and apoptosis in cervical carcinoma cells. Nevertheless, miR-125a-5p role and mRNA targets in cervical cancer are not fully established in cervical cancer. RT-qPCR analysis of miR-125a-5p expression showed differential expression on immortal and tumor cervical cell lines suggesting a role in malignant progression. To probe for possible miR-125a-5p targets we performed in silico analyses using several miRNA target analysis tools and validated the results with a panel of cervical immortal and tumor cell lines. The bio-informatics analysis showed Mark1, bcl-2 and vEGF genes as possible targets for miR-125a-5p. Further RT-qPCR and immunoblot analysis indicated an inverse correlation of miR125a-5p and MARK1 expression in tumor lines but not in immortal lines irrespective of the HPV content. Interestingly, transfection of a pre-miR-125a-5p mimic in C33-A cells (lacking HPV and with low endogenous miR-125a-5p levels), resulted in specific down-regulation of MARK1 and VEGF. Therefore, we suggest a potential role for miR-125a-5p in cervical carcinogenesis through the regulation of MARK1. Citation Format: Natalia Martinez Acuna, Maria L. Benitez Hess, Luis M. Alvarez Salas. Target mRNA analysis for miR-125a-5p in cervical carcinoma cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4167. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4167