Xiaokun Shen

Heparin Impairs Angiogenesis through Inhibition of MicroRNA-10b

Heparin, which has been used as an anticoagulant drug for decades, inhibits angiogenesis, whereas thrombin promotes tumor-associated angiogenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of angiogenesis by heparin and thrombin are not well understood. Here, we show that microRNA-10b (miR-10b) is down-regulated by heparin and up-regulated by thrombin in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Overexpression of miR-10b induces HMEC-1 cell migration, tube formation, and angiogenesis, and down-regulates homeobox D10 (HoxD10) expression via direct binding of miR-10b to the putative 3′ UTR of HoxD10. In addition, HMEC-1 cell migration and tube formation are induced by HoxD10 knockdown, whereas angiogenesis is arrested when HoxD10 expression is increased after anti-miR-10b or heparin treatments. Furthermore, expression of miR-10b and its transcription factor Twist are up-regulated by thrombin, whereas HoxD10 expression is impaired by thrombin. Using quartz crystal microbalance analysis, we show that heparin binds to thrombin, thereby inhibiting thrombin-induced expression of Twist and miR-10b. However, the expression of miR-10b is not attenuated by heparin any more after thrombin expression is silenced by its siRNA. Interestingly, we find that heparin attenuates miR-10b expression and induces HoxD10 expression in vivo to inhibit angiogenesis and impair the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts. These results provide insight into the molecular mechanism by which heparin and thrombin regulate angiogenesis.

WSS25 inhibits Dicer, downregulating microRNA-210, which targets Ephrin-A3, to suppress human microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC-1) tube formation

WSS25 is a sulfated polysaccharide that inhibits angiogenesis. However, the mechanism underlying the regulation of angiogenesis by WSS25 is not well understood. Using microRNA (miRNA) microarray analysis, a total of 25 miRNAs were found to be upregulated and 12 (including miR-210) downregulated by WSS25 in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Interestingly, Dicer, a key enzyme for miRNA biosynthesis, was downregulated by WSS25 in HMEC-1 cells. Further studies indicated that HMEC-1 cell tube formation and miR-210 expression were suppressed while Ephrin-A3 expression was enhanced by the silencing of Dicer. In contrast, HMEC-1 cell tube formation and miR-210 expression were induced while Ephrin-A3 expression was suppressed by Dicer overexpression. Moreover, miR-210 was downregulated while Ephrin-A3 was upregulated by WSS25 in HMEC-1 cells. HMEC-1 cell migration and tube formation were arrested, while Ephrin-A3 expression was augmented by anti-miR-210. In addition, HMEC-1 cell tube formation was significantly attenuated or augmented when Ephrin-A3 was overexpressed or silenced, respectively. Nevertheless, the tube formation blocked by WSS25 could be partially rescued by manipulation of Dicer, miR-210 and Ephrin-A3. These results suggest a new pathway whereby WSS25 inhibits angiogenesis via suppression of Dicer, leading to downregulation of miR-210 and upregulation of Ephrin-A3.

microRNA-149 targets caspase-2 in glioma progression

Malignant gliomas are the most common form of intrinsic primary brain tumors worldwide. Alterations in microRNAs play a role in highly invasive malignant glioma, but detail mechanism still unknown. In this study, the role and mechanism of microRNA-149 (miR-149) in glioma are investigated. We show that miR-149 is expressed at substantially higher levels in glioma than in normal tissues. Stable overexpression of miR-149 augments potent prosurvival activity, as evidenced by promotion of cell viability, inhibition of apoptosis, and induced xenografted tumor growth in vivo. We further show that Caspase-2 is identified as a functional target of miR-149 and expression of caspase-2 is inversely associated with miR-149 in vitro. In addition, miR-149 promotes tumor survival in the U87-MG and A172 cell lines and it targets caspase-2 via inactivation of the p53 and p21 pathways. There results support a special role for miR-149 by targeting Caspase-2 to impact on p53 signaling pathway. We speculate that miR-149 has distinct biological functions in p53 wild type cells and p53 mutation cells, and the mechanisms involved remain to be explored in future. Our study suggests that targeting miR-149 may be a novel therapy strategy for treating p53 wild type glioma tumors in humans.