PubMed Health⌕ Search

PubMed · 17135249

An E2F/miR-20a autoregulatory feedback loop.

Abstract

The E2F family of transcription factors is essential in the regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis. While the activity of E2F1-3 is tightly controlled by the retinoblastoma family of proteins, the expression of these factors is also regulated at the level of transcription, post-translational modifications and protein stability. Recently, a new level of regulation of E2Fs has been identified, where micro-RNAs (miRNAs) from the mir-17-92 cluster influence the translation of the E2F1 mRNA. We now report that miR-20a, a member of the mir-17-92 cluster, modulates the translation of the E2F2 and E2F3 mRNAs via binding sites in their 3'-untranslated region. We also found that the endogenous E2F1, E2F2, and E2F3 directly bind the promoter of the mir-17-92 cluster activating its transcription, suggesting an autoregulatory feedback loop between E2F factors and miRNAs from the mir-17-92 cluster. Our data also point toward an anti-apoptotic role for miR-20a, since overexpression of this miRNA decreased apoptosis in a prostate cancer cell line, while inhibition of miR-20a by an antisense oligonucleotide resulted in increased cell death after doxorubicin treatment. This anti-apoptotic role of miR-20a may explain some of the oncogenic capacities of the mir-17-92 cluster. Altogether, these results suggest that the autoregulation between E2F1-3 and miR-20a is important for preventing an abnormal accumulation of E2F1-3 and may play a role in the regulation of cellular proliferation and apoptosis.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Yannick Sylvestre, Vincent De Guire, Emmanuelle Querido, Utpal K Mukhopadhyay, Véronique Bourdeau, François Major, Gerardo Ferbeyre, Pascal Chartrand. 2006-11-29. An E2F/miR-20a autoregulatory feedback loop.. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.m608939200

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

Designer TALEs enable discovery of cell death-inducer genes.

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) in plant-pathogenic Xanthomonas bacteria activate expression of plant genes and support infection or cause a resistance response. PthA4AT is a TALE with a particularly short DNA-binding domain harboring only 7.5 repeats which triggers cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana; however, the genetic basis for this remains unknown. To identify possible target genes of PthA4AT that mediate cell death in N. benthamiana, we exploited the modularity of TALEs to stepwise enhance their specificity and reduce potential target sites. Substitutions of individual repeats suggested that PthA4AT-dependent cell death is sequence specific. Stepwise addition of repeats to the C-terminal or N-terminal end of the repeat region narrowed the sequence requirements in promoters of target genes. Transcriptome profiling and in silico target prediction allowed the isolation of two cell death inducer genes, which encode a patatin-like protein and a bifunctional monodehydroascorbate reductase/carbonic anhydrase protein. These two proteins are not linked to known TALE-dependent resistance genes. Our results show that the aberrant expression of different endogenous plant genes can cause a cell death reaction, which supports the hypothesis that TALE-dependent executor resistance genes can originate from various plant processes. Our strategy further demonstrates the use of TALEs to scan genomes for genes triggering cell death and other relevant phenotypes.

Cell Death↗

The dopaminergic nigrostriatal system and Parkinson's disease: molecular events in development, disease, and cell death, and new therapeutic strategies.

For several decades, the clinical study of Parkinson's disease has driven an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the dopaminergic system and its complex role in modulating motor behavior. This article reviews salient areas of research in this field, commencing with the molecular biology of the development of the mesencephalic dopaminergic system. We then discuss events thought to be crucial in the cellular and molecular pathology of Parkinson's disease, proposed mechanisms of cell death, and relevant toxin models. These advancements are used as a template to review emerging therapeutic techniques, including neuroprotection strategies, surgical treatment of trophic factors, gene therapy, and neural transplantation.

Cell Death↗

In vitro cytotoxicity assessment.

The most frequent reason cited for withdrawal of an approved drug is toxicity, yet no simple solution exists to adequately predict such adverse effects. Compound prioritization and optimization during in vitro screening cascades need to be based on confidence, not only in efficacy and bioavailability, but also in safety. A wider number and diversity of potential molecular and cellular effects of compound interactions might affect safety than might affect efficacy or bioavailability. Accordingly, cytotoxicity assessment is less specific, more multiparametric, and extrapolatable with less certainty, unless there are specific safety signals indicated by the chemical structure or by precedents. Cytotoxicity assessments have been limited by their inability to measure multiple, mechanistic parameters that capture a wide spectrum of potential cytopathological changes. Assays with multiple parameters for key, multiple, and different features, such as in high content screening (HCS), are more predictive because they cover a wider spectrum of effects. Assays need to be applied to a large set of marketed drugs that produce toxicity by numerous and different mechanisms for assessment of correlation with human toxicity. This will enable determination of the concordance between in vitro and in vivo results. Multiparametric, live cell, prelethal cytotoxic HCS assays for assessing the potential of compounds for causing human toxicity address some of the limitations of traditional in vitro methods. Assays of this class were used to screen a library of drugs with varying degrees of toxicity and it was found that the sensitivity of the assays was 87%, whereas assay specificity was more than 90%, thereby minimizing false positives.

Cell Death↗