TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fan, Kaiji
A1  - Zebisch, Armin
A1  - Horny, Kai
A1  - Schrama, David
A1  - Becker, Jürgen C.
T1  - Highly expressed miR-375 is not an intracellular oncogene in Merkel cell polyomavirus-associated Merkel cell carcinoma
JF  - Cancers
N2  - miR-375 is a highly abundant miRNA in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). In other cancers, it acts as either a tumor suppressor or oncogene. While free-circulating miR-375 serves as a surrogate marker for tumor burden in patients with advanced MCC, its function within MCC cells has not been established. Nearly complete miR-375 knockdown in MCC cell lines was achieved using antagomiRs via nucleofection. The cell viability, growth characteristics, and morphology were not altered by this knockdown. miR-375 target genes and related signaling pathways were determined using Encyclopedia of RNA Interactomes (ENCORI) revealing Hippo signaling and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes likely to be regulated. Therefore, their expression was analyzed by multiplexed qRT-PCR after miR-375 knockdown, demonstrating only a limited change in expression. In summary, highly effective miR-375 knockdown in classical MCC cell lines did not significantly change the cell viability, morphology, or oncogenic signaling pathways. These observations render miR-375 an unlikely intracellular oncogene in MCC cells, thus suggesting that likely functions of miR-375 for the intercellular communication of MCC should be addressed.
KW  - miR-375
KW  - antagomiRs
KW  - Merkel cell carcinoma
KW  - Hippo signaling
KW  - focal adhesion
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200678
SN  - 2072-6694
VL  - 12
IS  - 3
ER  -