The miR-200 family inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer cell migration by direct targeting of E-cadherin transcriptional repressors ZEB1 and ZEB2.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that can regulate gene expression by interacting with multiple mRNAs and inducing either translation suppression or degradation of mRNA. Recently, several miRNAs were identified as either promoters or suppressors of metastasis. However, it is unclear in which step(s) of the multistep metastatic cascade these miRNAs play a defined functional role. To study the functional importance of miRNAs in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process thought to initiate metastasis by enhancing the motility of tumor cells, we used a well established in vitro EMT assay: transforming growth factor-beta-induced EMT in NMuMG murine mammary epithelial cells. We found that members of the miR-200 family, organized as two clusters in the genome, were repressed

SUBMITTER: Korpal M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3258899 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature