MicroRNA-214 Promotes Apoptosis in Canine Hemangiosarcoma by Targeting the COP1-p53 Axis

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 3;10(9):e0137361. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137361. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

MicroRNA-214 regulates both angiogenic function in endothelial cells and apoptosis in various cancers. However, the regulation and function of miR-214 is unclear in canine hemangiosarcoma, which is a spontaneous model of human angiosarcoma. The expression and functional roles of miR-214 in canine hemangiosarcoma were presently explored by performing miRNA TaqMan qRT-PCR and transfecting cells with synthetic microRNA. Here, we report that miR-214 was significantly down-regulated in the cell lines used and in clinical samples of canine hemangiosarcoma. Restoration of miR-214 expression reduced cell growth and induced apoptosis in canine hemangiosarcoma cell lines through transcriptional activation of p53-regulated genes although miR-214 had a slight effect of growth inhibition on normal endothelial cells. We identified COP1, which is a critical negative regulator of p53, as a novel direct target of miR-214. COP1 was overexpressed and the specific COP1 knockdown induced apoptosis through transcriptional activation of p53-regulated genes as well as did miR-214-transfection in HSA cell lines. Furthermore, p53 knockdown abolished the miR-214-COP1-mediated apoptosis; thus, miR-214 and COP1 regulated apoptosis through controlling p53 in HSA. In conclusion, miR-214 functioned as a tumor suppressor in canine hemangiosarcoma by inducing apoptosis through recovering the function of p53. miR-214 down-regulation and COP1 overexpression is likely to contribute to tumorigenesis of HSA. Therefore, targeting miR-214-COP1-p53 axis would possibly be a novel effective strategy for treatment of canine hemangiosarcoma and capable of being applied to the development of novel therapeutics for human angiosarcoma.

MeSH terms

  • 3' Untranslated Regions / genetics
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / genetics*
  • Cell Cycle
  • Cell Division
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Dog Diseases / genetics*
  • Dog Diseases / metabolism
  • Dog Diseases / pathology
  • Dogs
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Hemangiosarcoma / genetics
  • Hemangiosarcoma / metabolism
  • Hemangiosarcoma / veterinary*
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / physiology*
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Neoplasm Proteins / physiology*
  • RNA Interference
  • RNA, Messenger / biosynthesis
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Neoplasm / genetics
  • RNA, Neoplasm / physiology*
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / physiology*

Substances

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • MicroRNAs
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Neoplasm
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.