Induction of miR-21 by retinoic acid in estrogen receptor-positive breast carcinoma cells: biological correlates and molecular targets.

Retinoids are promising agents for the treatment/prevention of breast carcinoma. We examined the role of microRNAs in mediating the effects of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), which suppresses the proliferation of estrogen receptor-positive (ERα(+)) breast carcinoma cells, such as MCF-7, but not estrogen receptor-negative cells, such as MDA-MB-231. We found that pro-oncogenic miR-21 is selectively induced by ATRA in ERα(+) cells. Induction of miR-21 counteracts the anti-proliferative action of ATRA but has the potentially beneficial effect of reducing cell motility. In ERα(+) cells, retinoid-dependent induction of miR-21 is due to increased transcription of the MIR21 gene via ligand-dependent activation of the nuclear retinoid receptor, RARα. RARα is part of the transcription complex present in the 5'-flanking region of the MIR21 gene. The receptor binds to two functional retinoic acid-responsive elements mapping upstream of the transcription initiation site. Silencing of miR-21 enhances ATRA-dependent growth inhibition and senescence while reverting suppression of cell motility afforded by the retinoid. Up-regulation of miR-21 results in retinoid-dependent inhibition of the established target, maspin. Knockdown and overexpression of maspin in MCF-7 cells indicates that the protein is involved in ATRA-induced growth inhibition and contributes to the ATRA-dependent anti-motility responses. Integration between whole genome analysis of genes differentially regulated by ATRA in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, prediction of miR-21 regulated genes, and functional studies led to the identification of three novel direct miR-21 targets: the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL1B, the adhesion molecule ICAM-1 and PLAT, the tissue-type plasminogen activator. Evidence for ICAM-1 involvement in retinoid-dependent inhibition of MCF-7 cell motility is provided.

Inhibition of the peptidyl-prolyl-isomerase Pin1 enhances the responses of acute myeloid leukemia cells to retinoic acid via stabilization of RARalpha and PML-RARalpha.

The peptidyl-prolyl-isomerase Pin1 interacts with phosphorylated proteins, altering their conformation. The retinoic acid receptor RARalpha and the acute-promyelocytic-leukemia-specific counterpart PML-RARalpha directly interact with Pin1. Overexpression of Pin1 inhibits ligand-dependent activation of RARalpha and PML-RARalpha. Inhibition is relieved by Pin1-targeted short interfering RNAs and by pharmacologic inhibition of the catalytic activity of the protein. Mutants of Pin1 catalytically inactive or defective for client-protein-binding activity are incapable of inhibiting ligand-dependent RARalpha transcriptional activity. Functional inhibition of RARalpha and PML-RARalpha by Pin1 correlates with degradation of the nuclear receptors via the proteasome-dependent pathway. In the acute myelogenous leukemia cell lines HL-60 and NB4, Pin1 interacts with RARalpha in a constitutive fashion. Suppression of Pin1 by a specific short hairpin RNA in HL-60 or NB4 cells stabilizes RARalpha and PML-RARalpha, resulting in increased sensitivity to the cytodifferentiating and antiproliferative activities of all-trans retinoic acid. Treatment of the two cell lines and freshly isolated acute myelogenous leukemia blasts (M1 to M4) with ATRA and a pharmacologic inhibitor of Pin1 causes similar effects. Our results add a further layer of complexity to the regulation of nuclear retinoic acid receptors and suggest that Pin1 represents an important target for strategies aimed at increasing the therapeutic index of retinoids.