HAND1 gene expression is negatively regulated by the High Mobility Group A1 proteins and is drastically reduced in human thyroid carcinomas.
HMGA1 proteins exert their major physiological function during embryonic development and play a critical role in neoplastic transformation. Here, we show that Hand1 gene, which codes for a transcription factor crucial for differentiation of trophoblast giant cells and heart development, is upregulated in hmga1 minus embryonic stem cells. We demonstrate that HMGA1 proteins bind directly to Hand1 promoter both in vitro and in vivo and inhibit Hand1 promoter activity. We have also investigated HAND1 expression in human thyroid carcinoma cell lines and tissues, in which HMGA proteins are overexpressed, with respect to normal thyroid; an inverse correlation between HMGA1 and HAND1 expression was found in all thyroid tumor histotypes. A correlation between HAND1 gene repression and promoter hypermethylation was found in anaplastic carcinomas but not in other thyroid tumor histotypes. Therefore, we can hypothesize that HMGA1 overexpression plays a key role on HAND1 silencing in differentiated thyroid carcinomas and that promoter hypermethylation occurs in later stages of thyroid tumor progression. Finally, the restoration of the HAND1 gene expression reduces the clonogenic ability of two human thyroid carcinoma-derived cell lines, suggesting that HAND1 downregulation may have a role in the process of thyroid carcinogenesis.
Martinez Hoyos
J
J
Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare e/o Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del CNR, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia di Napoli, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Ferraro
A
A
Sacchetti
S
S
Keller
S
S
De Martino
I
I
Borbone
E
E
Pallante
P
P
Fedele
M
M
Montanaro
D
D
Esposito
F
F
Cserjesi
P
P
Chiariotti
L
L
Troncone
G
G
Fusco
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D018450:Disease Progression; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D025741:HMGA1a Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D025741:HMGA1a Protein; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; C095572:Hand1 protein, mouse; C097341:helix-loop-helix protein, eHAND