miR-155 promotes the growth of osteosarcoma in a HBP1-dependent mechanism

• DOI: 10.1007/s11010-015-2344-z
• Publication Date: 2015-02-09T03:22:07Z
• Authors: Xiaohui Sun; Xiaolin Geng; Jun Zhang; Hongxing Zhao; Ying Liu
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Osteosarcoma; Base Sequence; Molecular Sequence Data; High Mobility Group Proteins; Down-Regulation; Prognosis; Survival Analysis; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Repressor Proteins; Mice; MicroRNAs; 03 medical and health sciences; HEK293 Cells; Cell Line, Tumor; Animals; Humans; Wnt Signaling Pathway; Cell Proliferation

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a type of malignant tumor arising from soft-tissues of bone and displays poor prognosis in most cases. However, the molecular mechanism by which OS initiates and progresses is still not completely elucidated. miR-155 has been shown to be overexpressed in OS specimen and cell lines. Our study is intended to explore the role of miR-155 in OS etiology. The data confirmed that miR-155 abundance is higher in OS samples than non-cancerous bone tissue. Inhibition of miR-155 suppressed the proliferation of OS cells and cell cycle progression in vitro, and the growth of OS xenografts in vivo. Wnt pathway was suppressed in OS cells by miR-155 inhibitors. HMG-box transcription factor 1 (HBP1), a strong Wnt pathway suppressor, was found to be a target of miR-155. Restoration of HBP1 abolished the effect of miR-155 on OS cells. Finally, miR-155 levels in OS tissues and serum are both inversely associated with the survival of OS patients. Collectively, miR-155 was identified to be among the list of OS-related oncogenic miRNAs, and HBP1-mediated Wnt signaling is involved with the role of miR-155 in OS progression.