miR-155 impairs ICOSL and MHC-I expression in DLBCL lymphomas

Elevated miR-155 levels in B cell malignancies, such as CLL and DLBCL, correlate with increased aggressiveness of the disease. We recently reported that, in two different mouse models of miR-155-driven B cell malignancy, miR-155 targets and down-regulates transcripts encoding ICOSL, the ligand for the Inducible T cell costimulator (ICOS), thereby impairing the capacity of T lymphocytes to recognize and eliminate malignant cells. In this report, we extend our previous findings to Human by showing that miR-155 levels negatively correlate with those of both ICOSL and MHC-I in samples from DLBCL patients. We present evidence of miR-155 reducing the levels of ICOSL transcripts in ABC, but not in GCB primary tumors (PTs) and cell lines (CLs). In contrast, there was no evidence of miR-155 targeting MHC-I transcript levels in both types of DLBCLs. Nevertheless, miR-155 and MHC-I levels inversely correlated in DLBCLs samples, suggesting the existence of indirect regulatory effects of miR-155. There was also evidence of dose-dependent effects at low miR-155 levels. Altogether, our findings indicate that the deficiency of both ICOSL and MHC-I activity, driven by high levels of miR-155, may be causative in the failure of the host immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant B cells.