title: Epigenetic activation of the MiR-200 family contributes to H19-mediated metastasis suppression in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Although numerous long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified in mammals, many of their biological roles remain to be characterized. Early reports suggest that H19 contributes to carcinogenesis, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Examination of the Oncomine resource showed that most HCC cases express H19 at a level that is comparable with the liver, with a tendency toward lower expression. This is consistent with our previous microarray data and indicates a more complicated role of H19 in HCC that needs to be characterized. In this study, the expression level of H19 was assessed in different regions of HCC patients' liver samples. Loss- and gain-of-function studies on this lncRNA in the HCC cell lines, SMMC7721 and HCCLM3, were used to characterize its effects on gene expression and to assess its effect on HCC metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we show that H19 was underexpressed in intratumoral HCC tissues (T), as compared with peritumoral tissues (L). Additionally, low T/L ratio of H19 predicted poor prognosis. H19 suppressed HCC progression metastasis and the expression of markers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, H19 associated with the protein complex hnRNP U/PCAF/RNAPol II, activating miR-200 family by increasing histone acetylation. The results demonstrate that H19 can alter the miR-200 pathway, thus contributing to mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition and to the suppression of tumor metastasis. These data provide an explanation for the hitherto puzzling literature on the relationship between H19 and cancer, and could suggest the development of combination therapies that target H19 and the miR-200 family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ji-hang
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Sheng-xian
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Wei-ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xi-song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Hai-shan
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D034441:Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011379:Prognosis; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D047368:Tumor Burden; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: C094335:H19 long non-coding RNA; D034441:Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins; D006657:Histones; C533896:MIRN200 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding