MicroRNA-200 (miR-200) cluster regulation by achaete scute-like 2 (Ascl2): impact on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colon cancer cells.

ABSTRACT: Ascl2, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, is a downstream target of WNT signaling that controls the fate of intestinal cryptic stem cells and colon cancer progenitor cells. However, its involvement in colon cancer and downstream molecular events is largely undefined; in particular, the mechanism by which Ascl2 regulates the plasticity of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) programs in colon cancer cells remains unknown. In this study, we systematically demonstrate that Ascl2 loss of function in colon cancer cells promotes MET by derepressing the expression of microRNA (miR)-200s (i.e. miR-200b, miR-200a, miR-429, miR-200c, and miR-141) and further activating their expression through a transcriptional mechanism that involves direct

SUBMITTER: Tian Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4276874 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature