miR‐200/375 control epithelial plasticity‐associated alternative splicing by repressing the RNA‐binding protein Quaking
- Journal:
- The EMBO Journal
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.15252/embj.201899016
- Affiliations:
- 8
- Authors:
- 21
Research Highlight
MicroRNAs leave cancer quaking
© KATERYNA KON/Science Photo Library/Getty
To prevent a cellular transition that promotes the spread of metastatic cancer, small regulatory RNA molecules are needed to quash the expression of a protein that would otherwise alter the processing of gene transcripts in a way that fuels tumour growth and aggressiveness.
A research team, led by scientists from the University of South Australia, searched for binding partners of a known tumour-suppressing short RNA called miR-200c. They found that the gene transcript encoding a protein called ‘Quaking’ was a direct target of this microRNA, and that miR-200c and another short regulatory RNA both suppressed the protein’s expression.
One particular form of Quaking normally stimulates metastasis in a range of cancers by modulating the splicing of coding and non-coding portions of numerous other genes. And both miR-200c and Quaking can alter the dynamic nature of structural filaments running through the cell to affect tumour spread.
Targeting this signalling pathway offering a promising strategy for limiting cancer progression.
References
- The EMBO Journal 37, e99016 (2018). doi: 10.15252/embj.201899016
Institutions | Authors | Share |
---|---|---|
Centre for Cancer Biology, Australia | 0.67 | |
The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia | 0.21 | |
Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre - Queensland (APCRC - Q), Australia | 0.10 | |
Flinders University, Australia | 0.02 |