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Updated: Jun 3, 2025

Characterization of Functionally Associated miRNAs in Glioblastoma and their Engineering into Artificial Clusters for Gene Therapy
Published on: October 4, 2019
Screening the human miRNA interactome reveals coordinated up-regulation in melanoma, adding bidirectional regulation
Faezeh Jame-Chenarboo1, Joseph N Reyes1, Nicholas M Twells1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Abstract:
Cellular protein expression is coordinated posttranscriptionally by an intricate regulatory network. The current presumption is that microRNAs (miRNAs) work by repression of functionally related targets within a system. In recent work, up-regulation of protein expression via direct interactions of messenger RNA with miRNA has been found in dividing cells, providing an additional mechanism of regulation. Herein, we demonstrate coordinated up-regulation of functionally coupled proteins by miRNA. We focused on CD98hc, the heavy chain of the amino acid transporter LAT-1, and α-2,3-sialyltransferases ST3GAL1 and ST3GAL2, which are critical for CD98hc stability in melanoma. Profiling miRNA regulation using our high-throughput miRFluR assay, we identified miRNA that up-regulated the expression of both CD98hc and either ST3GAL1 or ST3GAL2. These co-up-regulating miRNAs were enriched in melanoma datasets associated with transformation and progression. Our findings add co-up-regulation by miRNA into miRNA regulatory networks and add a bidirectional twist to the impact miRNAs have on protein regulation and glycosylation.
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