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MiR-21 is required for anti-tumor immune response in mice: an implication for its bi-directional roles

Oncogene volume 36, pages 4212–4223 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Here we show that miR-21, a microRNA known for its oncogenic activity, is also essential for mediating immune responses against tumor. Knockout of miR-21 in mice slowed the proliferation of both CD4+ and CD8+ cells, reduced their cytokine production and accelerated the grafted tumor growth. Further investigations indicated that miR-21 could activate CD4+ and CD8+ T cells via the PTEN/Akt pathway in response to stimulations. Taken together, these data suggest the key functions of miR-21 in mediating anti-tumor immune response and thereby uncover a bi-directional role of this traditionally known ‘oncomiR’ in tumorigenesis. Our study may provide new insights for the design of cancer therapies targeting microRNAs, with an emphasis on the dynamic and possibly unexpected role of these molecules.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB517603), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (2014AA020707), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31671031, 81673380, 31200695, 31400671, 51173076, 91129712 and 81102489), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-13-0272), Nanjing University State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Open Grant (02ZZYJ-201307). CW acknowledges the funding supports from University of Macau (MYRG2014-00069-ICMS-QRCM, MYRG2015-00160-ICMS-QRCM) and the opening fund of the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, University of Macau (No. 005).

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  1. W He and C Wang: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, NJU Advanced Institute for Life Sciences (NAILS), School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    W He, R Mu, P Liang, Z Huang, J Zhang & L Dong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, China

    C Wang

  3. Jiangsu Provincial Laboratory for Nano-Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    J Zhang

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He, W., Wang, C., Mu, R. et al. MiR-21 is required for anti-tumor immune response in mice: an implication for its bi-directional roles. Oncogene 36, 4212–4223 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2017.62

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