The Mir-17∼92 Cluster Activates mTORC1 Signaling in MCL by Targeting Multiple Regulators of the LKB1/AMPK/mTOR Pathway

Abstract 5118

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy with a median survival ranging between 3 and 5 years. Novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed to improve the outcome. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway which plays a central role in controlling cell growth, proliferation and metabolism has been shown to be deregulated in MCL. mTOR inhibitors, such as rapamycin and its analogues, have been approved for treatment of relapsed/refractory MCL. However, the molecular mechanism of mTOR activation in MCL has yet to be defined. MiRNA (miR)-17∼92 is a cluster of six miRNAs which are frequently overexpressed in MCL cases and overexpression of the miR-17∼92 cluster in MCL predicts poor prognosis. Our previous study demonstrated that miR-17∼92 activated the PI3K/AKT pathway by directly targeting PTEN and PHLPP2; and knock-down of miR-17∼92 expression inhibited MCL tumor growth in a xenograft/SCID MCL mouse model. In the present study, we further demonstrated that knock-down miR-17∼92 decreased the cell size, similar effect as seen in cells treated with mTORC1 inhibitors. Knockdown of miR-17∼92 expression also decreased the glycolysis, protein synthesis and glucose uptake in MCL cells. We found that knockdown miR-17∼92 activated AMPK signaling as demonstrated by increased phosphorylation of AMPK at Thr172, especially under low glucose condition. Activated AMPK further phosphorylated TSC2 and Raptor at S1387 and S792, respectively, thereby inhibiting mTORC1 signaling as evidenced by decreased phosphorylation of RPS6 and 4E-BP1. Using TargetScan and other prediction algorithms, we found that several factors in the LKB1/AMPK/mTOR pathway, such as LKB1, CAB39, PRKAA1 and TSC1, are predicted the targets of miR-17∼92. In this study, we validated these factors as direct targets of the miR-17∼92 by 3'UTR luciferase assays using reporter plasmids containing the 3'UTR of the targets or the 3'UTR with mutations in the predicted miRNA binding sites. The protein levels of these targets decreased in MCL cells with the miR-17∼92 overexpression. Conversely, the levels of these factors were increased upon knockdown of miR-17∼92 cluster. Our results indicate that overexpression of miR-17∼92 in MCL plays important role in mTORC1 activation by inactivating the LKB1/AMPK signaling, in addition to its effect on the PI3K/AKT pathway activation.