Our study suggests that miR-122, a tumor suppressor microRNA affecting hepatocellular carcinoma intrahepatic metastasis by angiogenesis suppression, exerts some of its action via regulation of ADAM17. Restoration of miR-122 has a far-reaching effect on the cell. Using the concomitant down-regulation of its targets, including ADAM17, a rational therapeutic strategy based on miR-122 may prove to be beneficial for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

RNA granules are dynamic cellular structures essential for proper gene expression and homeostasis. The two principle types of cytoplasmic RNA granules are stress granules (SGs), which contain stalled translation initiation complexes, and processing bodies (P-bodies, PBs), which concentrate factors involved in mRNA degradation. RNA granules are associated with gene silencing of transcripts, thus, viruses repress RNA granule functions to favor replication. This review discusses the breadth of viral interactions with cytoplasmic RNA granules, focusing on mechanisms that modulate the functions of RNA granules and that typically promote viral replication. Currently mechanisms for virus manipulation of RNA granules can be loosely grouped into three non-exclusive categories; i) cleavage of key RNA granule factors, ii) regulation of PKR activation and iii) co-opting RNA granule factors for new roles in viral replication. Viral repression of RNA granules supports productive infection by inhibiting their gene silencing functions and counteracting their role in linking stress sensing with innate immune activation.

Stress granules (SGs) are large macromolecular aggregates that contain translation initiation complexes and mRNAs. Stress granule formation coincides with translational repression, and stress granules actively signal to mediate cell fate decisions by signaling to the translation apparatus to (i) maintain translational repression, (ii) mount various transcriptional responses, including innate immunity, and (iii) repress apoptosis. Previous work showed that G3BP1 is phosphorylated at serine 149, which regulates G3BP1 oligomerization, stress granule assembly, and RNase activity intrinsic to G3BP1. However, the kinase that phosphorylates G3BP1 was not identified, leaving a key step in stress granule regulation uncharacterized. Here, using chemical inhibition, genetic depletion, and overexpression experiments, we show that casein kinase 2 (CK2) promotes stress granule dynamics. These results link CK2 activity with SG disassembly. We also show that casein kinase 2 phosphorylates G3BP1 at serine 149 in vitro and in cells. These data support a role for casein kinase 2 in regulation of protein synthesis by downregulating stress granule formation through G3BP1.

We have previously shown that poliovirus (PV) infection induces stress granule (SG) formation early in infection and then inhibits the formation of SG and disperses processing bodies (PBs) by the mid-phase of infection. Loss of SG was linked to cleavage of G3BP1 by viral 3C proteinase (3Cpro), however dispersal of PBs was not strongly linked to cleavage of specific factors by viral proteinases, suggesting other viral proteins may play roles in inhibition of SG or PB formation. Here we have screened all viral proteins for roles in inducing or inhibiting the formation of RNA granules by creating fusions with mCherry and expressing them individually in cells. Expression of viral proteins separately revealed that the capsid region P1, 2Apro, 3A, 3Cpro, the protease precursor 3CD and 3D polymerase all affect RNA granules to varying extents, whereas 2BC does not. 2Apro, which cleaves eIF4GI, induced SGs as expected, and entered novel foci containing the SG nucleating protein G3BP1. Of the two forms of G3BP, only G3BP1 is cleaved by a virus proteinase, 3Cpro, whereas G3BP2 is not cleaved by 3Cpro or 2Apro. Surprisingly, 3CD, which contains proteinase activity, differentially repressed PBs but not SGs. Further, both 2Apro and 3Cpro expression dispersed PBs, however molecular targets were different since PB dispersal due to 2Apro and heat shock protein (Hsp)90 inhibition but not 3Cpro, could be rescued by application of oxidative stress to cells. The data indicate that PV repression of SGs and PBs is multifactorial, though protease function is dominant.

Stress granules (SG) are membrane-less organelles that are condensates of stalled translation initiation complexes and mRNAs. SG formation is a cytoprotective response to environmental stress and results from protein interactions involving regions of low amino acid complexity and poorly defined post-translational modifications of SG components. Many RNA-binding proteins are methylated, and we previously demonstrated that the potent SG-nucleating protein G3BP1 is methylated by protein arginine methyltransferase 1 and 5 (PRMT1 and PRMT5). G3BP1 methylation represses SG formation and is reversible. Here we functionally link JMJD6 (Jumonji C domain-containing protein 6) to G3BP1 demethylation. Our findings reveal that JMJD6 is a novel SG component that interacts with G3BP1 complexes, and its expression reduces G3BP1 monomethylation and asymmetric dimethylation at three Arg residues. Knockdown of JMJD6 repressed SG formation and G3BP1 demethylation, but SG formation and G3BP1 demethylation were rescued with catalytically active but not mutant JMJD6. These results suggest that JMJD6 functions directly or indirectly as an arginine demethylase of G3BP1 that promotes SG formation.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by hybridizing to the 3′-untranslated regions (3′ UTR) of target mRNAs, subsequently controlling diverse biological processes at posttranscriptional level. How miRNA genes are regulated receives considerable attention because it directly affects miRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks. Although numerous prediction models were developed for identifying miRNA promoters or transcriptional start sites (TSSs), most of them lack experimental validation and are inadequate to elucidate relationships between miRNA genes and transcription factors (TFs). Here, we integrate three experimental datasets, including Cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE) tags, TSS Seq libraries, and H3K4me3 chromatin signature derived from high-throughput sequencing analysis of gene initiation, to provide direct evidence of miRNA TSSs, thus establishing an experimental-based resource of human miRNA TSSs, named miRStart. Moreover, a machine learning based Support Vector Machine (SVM) model is developed to systematically identify representative TSSs for each miRNA gene. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed resource, an important human intergenic miRNA, hsa-miR-122, is selected to experimentally validate putative TSS owing to its high expression in a normal liver. In conclusion, this work successfully identify 847 human miRNA TSSs (292 of them are clustered to 70 TSSs of miRNA clusters) based on the utilization of high-throughput sequencing data from TSS-relevant experiments, and establish a valuable resource for biologists in advanced research in miRNA-mediated regulatory networks. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4185. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4185

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), inhibitors of gene expression, participate in diverse biological functions and in carcinogenesis. MicroRNA-122, a liver-specific miRNA, is known to regulate lipid metabolism and tumorgenesis and is down-regulated in the intrahepatic metastastic HCC. To obtain insights into the physiological function of miR-122, we successfully generated the mir-122-/- mutant mouse (122KO). 122KO mice are viable with reduced serum cholesterol, elevated alkaline phosphatase and portal infiltration. Collagen deposition suggested minor fibrosis in 122KO livers. 122KO mice have distinctly different lipid metabolism. The levels of cholesterol and triglyceride are low in serum but high in liver tissue. Lipoprotein analysis revealed that 122KO mice have defect in VLDL transport. These results indicate that mir-122 deletion generated pathological features reminiscent that of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in human. In addition, mir-122 deletion is also prone to hepatocarcinogenesis. Liver tumors developed at age of 11 months in 5/5 mice. Expression of many genes was affected by mir-122 deletion. Pronounced changes are found in genes contributing to inflammation, cholestasis, fetal antigens, loss-of-imprinting and most importantly, expression of genes for metabolism of lipid and carbonhydrate are downregulated. The drastic change of transcriptome likely contributes to the pathological features presented in mir-122 knockout mice. We believe that 122KO mouse is a potential model for human HCC. This mouse model will provide a great opportunity to evaluate the physiological functions of mir-122 in hepatocyte differentiation. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4705. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4705