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MicroRNA-19a-3p inhibits breast cancer progression and metastasis by inducing macrophage polarization through downregulated expression of Fra-1 proto-oncogene

Oncogene volume 33, pages 3014–3023 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

One of the hallmarks of malignancy is the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) from a pro-immune (M1-like) phenotype to an immune-suppressive (M2-like) phenotype. However, the molecular basis of the process is still unclear. MicroRNA (miRNA) comprises a group of small, non-coding RNAs that are broadly expressed by a variety of organisms and are involved in cell behaviors such as suppression or promotion of tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrate that miR-19a-3p, broadly conserved among vertebrates, was downregulated in RAW264.7 macrophage cells of the M2 phenotype in conditoned medium of 4T1 mouse breast tumor cells. This downregulation correlated with an increased expression of the Fra-1 gene, which was reported to act as a pro-oncogene by supporting the invasion and progression of breast tumors. We found significant upregulation of miR-19a-3p in RAW264.7 macrophages after transfection with a miR-19a-3p mimic that resulted in a significant suppression of the expression of this gene. In addition, we could measure the activity of binding between miR-19a-3p and Fra-1 with a psiCHECK luciferase reporter system. Further, transfection of RAW264.7 macrophage cells with the miR-19a-3p mimic decreased the expression of the Fra-1 downstream genes VEGF, STAT3 and pSTAT3. Most importantly, the capacity of 4T1 breast tumor cells to migrate and invade was impaired in vivo by the intratumoral injection of miR-19a-3p. Taken together, these findings indicate that miR-19a-3p is capable of downregulating the M2 phenotype in M2 macrophages and that the low expression of this miRNA has an important role in the upregulation of Fra-1 expression and induction of M2 macrophage polarization.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 program): grant no. 2013CB967202 (to YL); the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC): grant no. 91029734 and 81071711 (to YL); grant nos 30830096 and 09ZCZDSF04000 (to RX); and Department of Defense grant, grant no. BC097723 (to RAR).

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  1. R Xiang and Y Luo: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Institute of Basic Medical Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    J Yang, C Chen, Y Liu, Q Si & Y Luo

  2. Department of Immunology, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    J Yang, Z Zhang, N Li & R Xiang

  3. Immunology Research Center, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli, Taiwan

    T-H Chuang

  4. Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

    A Gomez-Cabrero & R A Reisfeld

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  1. J Yang
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Correspondence to R Xiang or Y Luo.

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Yang, J., Zhang, Z., Chen, C. et al. MicroRNA-19a-3p inhibits breast cancer progression and metastasis by inducing macrophage polarization through downregulated expression of Fra-1 proto-oncogene. Oncogene 33, 3014–3023 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2013.258

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