MicroRNA Regulator Disappears as Normal Cells Become Cancerous

The loss of a major regulatory microRNA may trigger a shift in metabolic pathways that promote changes in cellular behavior including those that transform normal cells into cancerous ones.

Investigators at Ohio State University (Columbus, USA) used cell cultures derived from samples obtained from patients with either the aggressive or the indolent form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in order to evaluate the role of the regulatory microRNA miR-125b in this cancer.

They reported in the June 21, 2012, online edition of the journal Blood that that both aggressive and indolent CLL patients showed reduced expression of miR-125b. The loss of miR-125b activity was associated with higher rates of glucose metabolism, a characteristic of cancer cells known as the Warburg effect.

“Our findings indicate that miR-125b is downregulated in both aggressive and indolent forms of CLL, and that this downregulation is associated with metabolic adaptation to cancer transformation," said senior author Dr. Carlo Croce, professor of immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State University. “By identifying the metabolites that are changed, as we have here, we can propose to use drugs that target them and perhaps control the leukemia.”

“Cancer is a complex disease,” said Dr. Croce. “The more we know about the changes that occur when cells become malignant, the better therapies we can design.”

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