Stochastic cytokine expression induces mixed T helper cell States.

During eukaryotic development, the induction of a lineage-specific transcription factor typically drives differentiation of multipotent progenitor cells, while repressing that of alternative lineages. This process is often mediated by some extracellular signaling molecules, such as cytokines that can bind to cell surface receptors, leading to activation and/or repression of transcription factors. We explored the early differentiation of naive CD4 T helper (Th) cells into Th1 versus Th2 states by counting single transcripts and quantifying immunofluorescence in individual cells. Contrary to mutually exclusive expression of antagonistic transcription factors, we observed their ubiquitous co-expression in individual cells at high levels that are distinct from basal-level co-expression during lineage priming. We observed that cytokines are expressed only in a small subpopulation of cells, independent from the expression of transcription factors in these single cells. This cell-to-cell variation in the cytokine expression during the early phase of T helper cell differentiation is significantly larger than in the fully differentiated state. Upon inhibition of cytokine signaling, we observed the classic mutual exclusion of antagonistic transcription factors, thus revealing a weak intracellular network otherwise overruled by the strong signals that emanate from extracellular cytokines. These results suggest that during the early differentiation process CD4 T cells acquire a mixed Th1/Th2 state, instructed by extracellular cytokines. The interplay between extracellular and intracellular signaling components unveiled in Th1/Th2 differentiation may be a common strategy for mammalian cells to buffer against noisy cytokine expression.

Mir193b-365 is essential for brown fat differentiation.

Mammals have two principal types of fat. White adipose tissue primarily serves to store extra energy as triglycerides, whereas brown adipose tissue is specialized to burn lipids for heat generation and energy expenditure as a defence against cold and obesity. Recent studies have demonstrated that brown adipocytes arise in vivo from a Myf5-positive, myoblastic progenitor by the action of Prdm16 (PR domain containing 16). Here, we identified a brown-fat-enriched miRNA cluster, MiR-193b-365, as a key regulator of brown fat development. Blocking miR-193b and/or miR-365 in primary brown preadipocytes markedly impaired brown adipocyte adipogenesis by enhancing Runx1t1 (runt-related transcription factor 1; translocated to, 1) expression, whereas myogenic markers were significantly induced. Forced expression of Mir193b and/or Mir365 in C2C12 myoblasts blocked the entire programme of myogenesis, and, in adipogenic conditions, miR-193b induced myoblasts to differentiate into brown adipocytes. Mir193b-365 was upregulated by Prdm16 partially through Pparα. Our results demonstrate that Mir193b-365 serves as an essential regulator for brown fat differentiation, in part by repressing myogenesis.

miR-200 enhances mouse breast cancer cell colonization to form distant metastases.

BACKGROUND: The development of metastases involves the dissociation of cells from the primary tumor to penetrate the basement membrane, invade and then exit the vasculature to seed, and colonize distant tissues. The last step, establishment of macroscopic tumors at distant sites, is the least well understood. Four isogenic mouse breast cancer cell lines (67NR, 168FARN, 4TO7, and 4T1) that differ in their ability to metastasize when implanted into the mammary fat pad are used to model the steps of metastasis. Only 4T1 forms macroscopic lung and liver metastases. Because some miRNAs are dysregulated in cancer and affect cellular transformation, tumor formation, and metastasis, we examined whether changes in miRNA expression might explain the differences in metastasis of these cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: miRNA expression was analyzed by miRNA microarray and quantitative RT-PCR in isogenic mouse breast cancer cells with distinct metastatic capabilities. 4T1 cells that form macroscopic metastases had elevated expression of miR-200 family miRNAs compared to related cells that invade distant tissues, but are unable to colonize. Moreover, over-expressing miR-200 in 4TO7 cells enabled them to metastasize to lung and liver. These findings are surprising since the miR-200 family was previously shown to promote epithelial characteristics by inhibiting the transcriptional repressor Zeb2 and thereby enhancing E-cadherin expression. We confirmed these findings in these cells. The most metastatic 4T1 cells acquired epithelial properties (high expression of E-cadherin and cytokeratin-18) compared to the less metastatic cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Expression of miR-200, which promotes a mesenchymal to epithelial cell transition (MET) by inhibiting Zeb2 expression, unexpectedly enhances macroscopic metastases in mouse breast cancer cell lines. These results suggest that for some tumors, tumor colonization at metastatic sites might be enhanced by MET. Therefore the epithelial nature of a tumor does not predict metastatic outcome.

Targeting microRNAs in obesity.

Obesity is a serious health problem worldwide associated with an increased risk of life-threatening diseases such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and certain types of cancer. Fundamental for the development of novel therapeutics for obesity and its associated metabolic syndromes is an understanding of the regulation of fat cell development. Recent computational and experimental studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in metabolic tissue development, lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis. In addition, many miRNAs are dysregulated in metabolic tissues from obese animals and humans, which potentially contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity-associated complications. In this review we summarize the current state of understanding of the roles of miRNAs in metabolic tissues under normal development and obese conditions, and discuss the potential use of miRNAs as therapeutic targets.

MicroRNA-125b promotes neuronal differentiation in human cells by repressing multiple targets.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Research on miRNAs has highlighted their importance in neural development, but the specific functions of neurally enriched miRNAs remain poorly understood. We report here the expression profile of miRNAs during neuronal differentiation in the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. Six miRNAs were significantly upregulated during differentiation induced by all-trans-retinoic acid and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. We demonstrated that the ectopic expression of either miR-124a or miR-125b increases the percentage of differentiated SH-SY5Y cells with neurite outgrowth. Subsequently, we focused our functional analysis on miR-125b and demonstrated the important role of this miRNA in both the spontaneous and induced differentiations of SH-SH5Y cells. miR-125b is also upregulated during the differentiation of human neural progenitor ReNcell VM cells, and miR-125b ectopic expression significantly promotes the neurite outgrowth of these cells. To identify the targets of miR-125b regulation, we profiled the global changes in gene expression following miR-125b ectopic expression in SH-SY5Y cells. miR-125b represses 164 genes that contain the seed match sequence of the miRNA and/or that are predicted to be direct targets of miR-125b by conventional methods. Pathway analysis suggests that a subset of miR-125b-repressed targets antagonizes neuronal genes in several neurogenic pathways, thereby mediating the positive effect of miR-125b on neuronal differentiation. We have further validated the binding of miR-125b to the miRNA response elements of 10 selected mRNA targets. Together, we report here for the first time the important role of miR-125b in human neuronal differentiation.

MicroRNA-125b is a novel negative regulator of p53.

The p53 transcription factor is a key tumor suppressor and a central regulator of the stress response. To ensure a robust and precise response to cellular signals, p53 gene expression must be tightly regulated from the transcriptional to the post-translational levels. Computational predictions suggest that several microRNAs are involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of p53. Here we demonstrate that miR-125b, a brain-enriched microRNA, is a bona fide negative regulator of p53 in both zebrafish and humans. miR-125b-mediated down-regulation of p53 is strictly dependent on the binding of miR-125b to a microRNA response element in the 3' untranslated region of p53 mRNA. Overexpression of miR-125b represses the endogenous level of p53 protein and suppresses apoptosis in human neuroblastoma cells and human lung fibroblast cells. In contrast, knockdown of miR-125b elevates the level of p53 protein and induces apoptosis in human lung fibroblasts and in the zebrafish brain. This phenotype can be rescued significantly by either an ablation of endogenous p53 function or ectopic expression of miR-125b in zebrafish. Interestingly, miR-125b is down-regulated when zebrafish embryos are treated with gamma-irradiation or camptothecin, corresponding to the rapid increase in p53 protein in response to DNA damage. Ectopic expression of miR-125b suppresses the increase of p53 and stress-induced apoptosis. Together, our study demonstrates that miR-125b is an important negative regulator of p53 and p53-induced apoptosis during development and during the stress response.

MicroRNAs induced during adipogenesis that accelerate fat cell development are downregulated in obesity.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the regulation and involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in fat cell development and obesity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using miRNA microarrays, we profiled the expression of >370 miRNAs during adipogenesis of preadipocyte 3T3-L1 cells and adipocytes from leptin deficient ob/ob and diet-induced obese mice. Changes in key miRNAs were validated by RT-PCR. We further assessed the contribution of the chronic inflammatory environment in obese adipose tissue to the dysregulated miRNA expression by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha treatment of adipocytes. We functionally characterized two adipocyte-enriched miRNAs, miR-103 and miR-143, by a gain-of-function approach. RESULTS: Similar miRNAs were differentially regulated during in vitro and in vivo adipogenesis. Importantly, miRNAs that were induced during adipogenesis were downregulated in adipocytes from both types of obese mice and vice versa. These changes are likely associated with the chronic inflammatory environment, since they were mimicked by TNF-alpha treatment of differentiated adipocytes. Ectopic expression of miR-103 or miR-143 in preadipocytes accelerated adipogenesis, as measured both by the upregulation of many adipogenesis markers and by an increase in triglyceride accumulation at an early stage of adipogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide the first experimental evidence for miR-103 function in adipose biology. The remarkable inverse regulatory pattern for many miRNAs during adipogenesis and obesity has important implications for understanding adipose tissue dysfunction in obese mice and humans and the link between chronic inflammation and obesity with insulin resistance.

Differential expression of hDAB2IPA and hDAB2IPB in normal tissues and promoter methylation of hDAB2IPA in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: hDAB2IP is a candidate tumor suppressor gene. We studied the expression of its two variants, hDAB2IPA and hDAB2IPB, in normal tissues, and the expression and methylation status of hDAB2IPA in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and cell lines. METHODS: Conventional or real-time RT-PCR was performed in normal tissue samples, cell lines and HCC samples, and sequencing analysis and methylation-specific PCR in cell lines and HCC samples. RESULTS: hDAB2IPA was the predominant isoform, being expressed in the majority of tissues examined. The expression of hDAB2IPA was silenced or down-regulated but could be restored by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment in liver cancer cell lines. The reactivation of hDAB2IPA was associated with promoter demethylation. The correlation between promoter methylation and hDAB2IPA expression was confirmed in eight pairs of matched HCC samples. Further, the methylation of the hDAB2IPA promoter in HCC was confirmed in an additional 53 pairs of patient samples. More than 80% of HCC samples showed hDAB2IPA promoter methylation, compared to 11.5% in the corresponding adjacent normal tissue (p<0.0001, chi2). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that hDAB2IPA is the dominant isoform expressed in normal tissues. Its expression is suppressed in HCC, consistent with its role as a tumor suppressor gene, mainly by promoter methylation.

The male seahorse synthesizes and secretes a novel C-type lectin into the brood pouch during early pregnancy.

The male seahorse incubates its young in a manner resembling that of a mammalian pregnancy. After the female deposits her eggs into the male's brood pouch they are fertilized and the embryos develop and grow for several weeks until they are able to withstand the external environmental conditions independently, at which point they are irreversibly released. Although the precise function of the brood pouch is not clear, it is probably related to providing a suitable protective and osmotic environment for the young. The aim of this project was to construct and characterize a cDNA library made from the tissue lining the pouch, in order to help understand the molecular mechanisms regulating its development and function. The library profile indicates expression of genes encoding proteins involved in metabolism and transport, as well as structural proteins, gene regulatory proteins, and other proteins whose function is unknown. However, a large portion of the library contained genes encoding C-type lectins (CTLs), of which three full-length proteins were identified and found to contain a signal peptide and a single C-lectin domain, possessing all the conserved structural elements. We have produced recombinant protein for one of these and raised antisera; we have shown, using Western analysis and 2D electrophoresis, that this protein is secreted in significant quantities into the pouch fluid specifically during early pregnancy. Preliminary functional studies indicate that this CTL causes erythrocyte agglutination and may help to repress bacterial growth.