The miR-371373 cluster represses colon cancer initiation and metastatic colonization by inhibiting the TGFBR2/ID1 signaling axis

Pit Ullmann, Fabien Rodriguez, Martine Schmitz, Steffen K. Meurer, Komal Qureshi-Baig, Paul Felten, Aurelien Ginolhac, Laurent Antunes, Sonia Frasquilho, Nikolaus Zügel, Ralf Weiskirchen, Serge Haan, Elisabeth Letellier*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The vast majority of colorectal cancer–related deaths can be attributed to metastatic spreading of the disease. Therefore, deciphering molecular mechanisms of metastatic dissemination is a key prerequisite to improve future treatment options. With this aim, we took advantage of different colorectal cancer cell lines and recently established primary cultures enriched in colon cancer stem cells, also known as tumor-initiating cells (TIC), to identify genes and miRNAs with regulatory functions in colorectal cancer progression. We show here that metastasis-derived TICs display increased capacity for self-renewal, TGFb signaling activity, and reduced expression of the miR-371373 cluster compared with nonmetastatic cultures. TGFb receptor 2 (TGFBR2) and aldehyde dehydrogenase A1 (ALDH1A1) were identified as important target genes of the miR-371373 cluster. In addition, TGFBR2 repression, either by direct knockdown or indirectly via overexpression of the entire miR-371373 cluster, decreased tumor-initiating potential of TICs. We observed significantly reduced in vitro self-renewal activity as well as lowered tumor initiation and metastatic outgrowth capacity in vivo following stable overexpression of the miR-371373 cluster in different colon TIC cultures. Inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1) was affected by both TGFBR2 and miR-371373 cluster alterations. Functional sphere and tumor formation as well as metastatic dissemination assays validated the link between miR-371373 and ID1. Altogether, our results establish the miR-371373/TGFBR2/ID1 signaling axis as a novel regulatory mechanism of TIC self-renewal and metastatic colonization. Significance: These findings establish the miR-371~373/TGFBR2/ID1 signaling axis as a novel mechanismregulating self-renewal of tumor-initiating cell and metastatic colonization, potentially opening new concepts for therapeutic targeting of cancer metastasis. Graphical Abstract: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/78/14/3793/F1.large.jpg.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3793-3808
Number of pages16
JournalCancer Research
Volume78
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jul 2018

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