A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells

The embryonic programme 'epithelial-mesenchymal transition' (EMT) is thought to promote malignant tumour progression. The transcriptional repressor zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a crucial inducer of EMT in various human tumours, and was recently shown to promote invasion a...

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Main Authors: Burk, U., Schubert, J., Wellner, U., Schmalhofer, O., Vincan, Elizabeth, Spaderna, S., Brabletz, T.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42318
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author Burk, U.
Schubert, J.
Wellner, U.
Schmalhofer, O.
Vincan, Elizabeth
Spaderna, S.
Brabletz, T.
author_facet Burk, U.
Schubert, J.
Wellner, U.
Schmalhofer, O.
Vincan, Elizabeth
Spaderna, S.
Brabletz, T.
author_sort Burk, U.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The embryonic programme 'epithelial-mesenchymal transition' (EMT) is thought to promote malignant tumour progression. The transcriptional repressor zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a crucial inducer of EMT in various human tumours, and was recently shown to promote invasion and metastasis of tumour cells. Here, we report that ZEB1 directly suppresses transcription of microRNA-200 family members miR-141 and miR-200c, which strongly activate epithelial differentiation in pancreatic, colorectal and breast cancer cells. Notably, the EMT activators transforming growth factor ß2 and ZEB1 are the predominant targets downregulated by these microRNAs. These results indicate that ZEB1 triggers an microRNA-mediated feedforward loop that stabilizes EMT and promotes invasion of cancer cells. Alternatively, depending on the environmental trigger, this loop might switch and induce epithelial differentiation, and thus explain the strong intratumorous heterogeneity observed in many human cancers.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-423182023-02-22T06:24:18Z A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells Burk, U. Schubert, J. Wellner, U. Schmalhofer, O. Vincan, Elizabeth Spaderna, S. Brabletz, T. The embryonic programme 'epithelial-mesenchymal transition' (EMT) is thought to promote malignant tumour progression. The transcriptional repressor zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a crucial inducer of EMT in various human tumours, and was recently shown to promote invasion and metastasis of tumour cells. Here, we report that ZEB1 directly suppresses transcription of microRNA-200 family members miR-141 and miR-200c, which strongly activate epithelial differentiation in pancreatic, colorectal and breast cancer cells. Notably, the EMT activators transforming growth factor ß2 and ZEB1 are the predominant targets downregulated by these microRNAs. These results indicate that ZEB1 triggers an microRNA-mediated feedforward loop that stabilizes EMT and promotes invasion of cancer cells. Alternatively, depending on the environmental trigger, this loop might switch and induce epithelial differentiation, and thus explain the strong intratumorous heterogeneity observed in many human cancers. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42318 10.1038/embor.2008.74 unknown
spellingShingle Burk, U.
Schubert, J.
Wellner, U.
Schmalhofer, O.
Vincan, Elizabeth
Spaderna, S.
Brabletz, T.
A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title_full A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title_fullStr A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title_full_unstemmed A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title_short A reciprocal repression between ZEB1 and members of the miR-200 family promotes EMT and invasion in cancer cells
title_sort reciprocal repression between zeb1 and members of the mir-200 family promotes emt and invasion in cancer cells
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42318