Background
Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common female pelvic malignancies, and its incidence has recently increased worldwide [
1]. While early-stage EC is generally considered to have a good prognosis, the nature of the disease is heterogeneous, and there is a significant group of patients with a high risk of cancer recurrence and death [
2,
3]. The lack of effective therapy for patients with advanced-stage and recurrent disease is to some extent a reflection of an incomplete understanding of the molecular basis of endometrial carcinogenesis [
4]. The identification of effective targets for EC tumorigenesis and treatment would have a major impact on women’s health.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA transcripts that influence cell function via modulation of the post-transcriptional activity of multiple mRNA gene targets. Gene silencing by miRNAs is primarily achieved by targeting the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of mRNAs and inducing translational silencing [
5]. Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs may influence human cancer development and can act as either potent oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes [
6]. Some investigators have suggested that miRNA signatures can be considered promising biomarkers for the early detection and prognosis of EC [
7]. Although a large number of miRNAs have been identified to date in EC, the role for many of them in tumorigenesis and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
Using an miRNA microarray to detect differential expressions of miRNAs in EC tissues, we have identified several miRNAs that are of importance for further research. Of these miRNAs, we focused on miR-205, which was found to be overexpressed in EC [
8], a finding that is consistent with other studies [
9‐
11]. Recently, miR-205 has been associated with a variety of tumors. Of interest, miR-205 was expressed in a low level and functioned as a tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer and prostate cancer [
12‐
14]; however, in studies of non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [
15], miR-205 was overexpressed and acted as an oncogene. Although many properties of miR-205 have been revealed, its targets and its role in EC remain to be evaluated. Using a target gene prediction system, we proposed that PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten) is a putative target gene of miR-205. PTEN is a tumor suppressor that regulates cell survival and proliferation by antagonizing phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PKB/AKT) signaling [
16]. In human EC, reduced expression of PTEN and overexpression of phosphorylated AKT (pAKT) are frequently correlated with tumor progression and a poor prognosis. miR-205 expression has an inverse correlation with the PTEN protein using the non-parametric Spearman correlation analysis [
17]. PTEN was predicted to be a target of miR-205 by previous studies [
18,
19]; however, this prediction has not been validated in EC.
In the present study, we sought to determine whether there are any target relationships between miR-205, the tumor suppressor gene PTEN and their underlying mechanisms in Ishikawa cells. Significantly, we show that miR-205 directly targets PTEN by binding to its 3′-UTR, leading to the inhibition of PTEN translation and the activation of the AKT pathway. We also show that enhanced miR-205 expression inhibited cellular apoptosis in EC cells. Therefore, we suggest that miR-205 is a specific oncogene in EC and a novel target for EC therapy.
Methods
Cell lines and culture conditions
Ishikawa cells were obtained from the European Collection of Cell Cultures (ECACC, Wiltshire, UK) and are preserved by the Key Laboratory of Gynecologic Oncology at Qilu Hospital. Cells were cultured in MEM medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Gibco, USA) and were incubated at 37°C in a humidified chamber supplemented with 5% CO2.
Normal endometria collection
The normal endometria were obtained from 15 patients with benign uterine diseases who underwent surgical hysterectomies at Qilu Hospital, Shandong University. The endometria from these patients were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C immediately after excision. These patients did not receive any treatment prior to surgery. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of Qilu Hospital.
Reporter vectors and constructs
The 2.7 kb 3′-UTR sequence of PTEN was amplified from genomic HEK293 cell DNA and subcloned into the XhoI site of the dual luciferase reporter vector (pmiR-RB-REPORT™, RIBOBIO, China). The mutant construct of PTEN 3′-UTR was generated using a KOD-Plus-Mutagenesis Kit (TOYOBO, Japan) by site-directed mutagenesis via established methods [
20].
Oligonucleotide and cell transfection
MiR-205 mimics, designed to mimic endogenous mature miR-205, were purchased from GenePharma (Shanghai, China) as well as scrambled oligonucleotides, which did not produce identifiable effects on miR-205 function, used as negative control miRNA. Cells were grown to 60% confluence and miR-205 mimics or negative controls were transiently transfected using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen, USA) according to the manufacturer’s specifications. MiR-205 mimics and plasmid co-transfections were also performed using Lipofectamine 2000. Twenty-four hours after transfection, cells were plated for an apoptosis assay or harvested for the luciferase reporter assay. Cells were harvested for RNA and protein analyses at forty-eight hours after the transfection.
RNA isolation and quality control
Total RNA was isolated from cells and normal endometria using the TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions as previously described [
21]. RNA purity and quality were detected by a spectrophotometer and Denaturing Agarose Gel Electrophoresis. The O.D. A260/A280 ratio should be close to 2.0 for pure RNA (ratios between 1.8 and 2.1 were acceptable).
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)
cDNA was synthesized from 10 ng of total RNA using the M-MLV Reverse Transcription Kit (Invitrogen, USA) with Bulge-loop™ miR-205 qRT-PCR Primer (synthesized by RIBOBIO, Guangzhou, China). The primers for miR-205 were 5′-CTT GTC CTT CAT TCC ACC GGA-3′ (forward) and 5′-TGC CGC CTG AAC TTC ACT CC-3′ (reverse). Amplification reactions were performed using SYBR Premix Ex Taq (Takara, Japan) according to the manufacturer’s protocol and were carried out using the Light Cycler System in triplicates (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) as previously described [
22]. We also carried out positive and negative control reactions on each plate. The melting curve of each PCR product was determined, and the threshold cycle (Ct) data were determined. MiRNA-205 expression was determined by 2
ˉ△△Ct measurements and normalized to U6 [
23]. For PTEN qRT-PCR analysis, cDNA was synthesized using the PrimeScript RT reagent Kit with gDNA Eraser (Takara, Japan). The total volume of each real-time PCR reaction was 20 μl containing primers and the SYBR green Master Mix (Takara, Japan). The primers for PTEN were 5′-TGT GGT CTG CCA GCT AAA GG-3′ (forward) and 5′-CGG CTG AGG GAA CTC AAA GT-3′ (reverse). β-actin was used as a normalized control, using the following primers: 5′-GCA CCC AGC ACA CAA TGA AG-3′ (forward) and 5′-GCA CCC AGC ACA ATG AAG-3′ (reverse). All of the PCR products were verified by DNA sequencing.
Western blotting
Cells were lysed in RIPA buffer with protease and phosphatase inhibitors (Beyotime, Beijing, China) at 4°C for 30 min. Protein concentrations were measured with the BCA Protein Assay Kit (Beyotime, Beijing, China). The western blot analysis was carried out as reported previously [
24]. Fifty micrograms of total protein was separated by SDS-PAGE on 10% gel and transferred onto PVDF membranes (Millipore, USA) at 200 mA for 1.5 h. Membranes were incubated with primary antibodies overnight at 4°C. Then, membranes were incubated with secondary antibodies for 1 h at room temperature. The immunoreactivity of proteins was detected using ECL Reagent (Millipore, USA). The mean density of each band was quantified using Image J software with β-actin used as an internal control. Specific primary antibodies used in this study were purchased from Bioworld (USA).
Cell apoptosis assay
The cell apoptosis assay was performed using flow cytometry and was detected with the Annexin V-FITC/PI Apoptosis Detection Kit (BestBio, China). Cells were cultured in 96-well plates and treated with the agents indicated in the figure legends according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Cells were resuspended in 400 μl Annexin V binding buffer and subsequently incubated with 5 μl Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate for 15 minutes in room temperature; then, 10 μl of propidium iodide was added. Experimental data were analyzed using Tree Star FlowJo software (version 8).
Luciferase assay
Cells were grown to approximately 60% confluence in 24-well plates and co-transfected with pmiR-RB-PTEN-3′-UTR (wild type or mutant) plus miR-7 mimics or negative control miRNA using Lipofectamine 2000. After 24 hours of incubation, firefly and Renilla luciferase activities were evaluated using the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay system (Promega, USA) according to the manufacturer’s protocol and reported as relative luciferase units (firefly luciferase/Renilla luciferase).
Statistical analysis
All results, including transfection, were repeated using independent experiments in triplicate. Comparisons between the two groups were performed with Student’s t-test (with or without a Welch correction). When more than two groups were compared, significant differences were determined by a one-way ANOVA or with nonparametric tests for small groups of subjects. Differences in p values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 17.0 software.
Discussion
MiRNAs are increasingly implicated in regulating the malignant progression of cancer by directly targeting oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes [
29]. Each miRNA can potentially interact with several mRNA targets via base pairing in the 3′-UTR portion. A number of target prediction algorithms, including TargetScan, PicTar and miRanda, relying on seed sequence pairing rules and conservational analysis, have been developed to score possible recognition sites and identify putative gene targets. However, these predictions usually yield a large number of false-positive candidates, and experimental validation is, thus, strictly required [
30]. The expression of miR-205 in cancer is controversial because reports have indicated that it is up-regulated or down-regulated in different tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. In the present study, we observed that miR-205 was markedly up-regulated in the Ishikawa cell line compared with normal endometrium. Moreover, several studies using endometrial cancer tissues demonstrated the same results. These findings indicated that enhanced miR-205 expression in EC cells may be important for EC progression.
Many studies have demonstrated that PTEN is mutated or deleted in a great number of human tumors, including EC. Additionally, it is known that PTEN codifies a dual specificity phosphatase, and it is well-known to be required for the phosphorylation and activation of the proto-oncogene AKT [
31]. As PTEN is a putative target for miR-205, we next located potential binding sites of miR-205 in the PTEN 3′-UTR region (Figure
2A). A luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-205 directly interacted with the PTEN 3′-UTR (Figure
2C), and the overexpression of miR-205 diminished PTEN mRNA and protein levels in Ishikawa cells. In addition, we described herein that miR-205 blocks PTEN translation and results in the activation of the AKT pathway (Figure
3). It has been well documented that the constitutive activation of AKT contributes to tumor progression, and regulates several downstream targets (e.g., p53 and BCL-2). Our results are consistent with previous studies that showed decreased p53 protein levels and increased BCL-2 protein levels after up-regulating miR-205 expression. As the p53 and BCL-2 genes are involved in cell growth, apoptosis and proliferation, these results provide the basis for further investigation on the roles of miR-205 in EC cells. Here, we found that the cell apoptosis rate was inhibited by miR-205 (Figure
4), which may promote endometrial cancer development. These results indicated that miR-205 acts as an oncogene and suppresses cellular apoptosis in EC by targeting the PTEN/AKT pathway.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from Science and Technology Research Project of Shandong Province (2008GG100002058), and Natural Scientific Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2010HM102). We appreciate the critical review and suggestions from our reviewers.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
GZ conceived and supervised the study. XH, YL, and MZ performed the experiments. YL and MZ analyzed the data. XH and YL drafted the manuscript, and GZ revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.