Knockdown of MicroRNA-10a in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Cells Bearing the Nucleophosmin1 Mutation Causes Cell Death and Reduced Clonogenicity

Abstract 1367

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) with a mutation in the Nucleophosmin1 gene (NPM1c+) accounts for one of the largest subtypes of AML, with an unknown etiology. MicroRNA dysregulation has now been implicated in the oncogenesis of many cancers including AML. We sought to investigate the role of microRNAs in the initiation and development of AML with the NPM1c+ mutation.

MicroRNA profiling of bone marrow samples from 28 AML patients and confirmation by qRT-PCR demonstrated a unique microRNA signature in AML-NPM1c+ samples dominated by miR-10a over-expression of 19.6-fold compared to Nucleophosmin1 wild type (NPM1) samples. Functional assessments were performed in the human OCI-AML3 cell line, which is the only cell line to harbour NPM1c+. miR-10a repression was induced by transfection with miRCURY LNA microRNA knockdown probes (Exiqon). Cell growth (MTS) assay demonstrated a significant decrease of 19% in miR-10a knockdown cells compared to the Scrambled control. AnnexinV and Caspase 3 assays assessed the effect of miR-10a knockdown on apoptosis. miR-10a knockdown increased the proportion of AnnexinV positive events when compared to control treated cells by 34.9% and 39.3% at 24 and 48 hours respectively, but had no effect on Caspase 3 expression. Proliferation (BrdU uptake) assays did not show a change, however, clonogenic assays demonstrated a 26.1% decrease in colony number in miR-10a knockdown cells compared to the control. Potential mechanisms were elucidated by determining miR-10a mRNA targets in silico and confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. These included ARNT, GTFH1, ID4, KLF4, MAPRE1, NR4A3, RB1CC1 and TFAP2C.

In this study, we have demonstrated that miR-10a was highly differentially expressed between AML-NPM1c+ cells compared to leukaemic cells bearing wild type NPM1. Knockdown of miR-10a in OCI-AML3 cells resulted in increased cell death as detected by AnnexinV binding (but not Caspase 3, indicating an effect independent of the classical apoptotic pathways) and reduced clonogenic capacity. These effects are thought to occur through miR-10a mediated modulation of ARNT, GTFH1, ID4, KLF4, MAPRE1, NR4A3, RB1CC1 and TFAP2C, all of which are associated with neoplastic transformation. Taken together, our results suggest that aberrant miR-10a over-expression in AML-NPM1c+ patients promotes cell survival.

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