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Originally published in Science Express on 13 November 2008
Science 12 December 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5908, pp. 1695 - 1699
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165395
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Reports

Genomic Loss of microRNA-101 Leads to Overexpression of Histone Methyltransferase EZH2 in Cancer

Sooryanarayana Varambally,1,2,3* Qi Cao,1,2* Ram-Shankar Mani,1,2 Sunita Shankar,1,2 Xiaosong Wang,1,2 Bushra Ateeq,1,2 Bharathi Laxman,1,2 Xuhong Cao,1,4 Xiaojun Jing,1,2 Kalpana Ramnarayanan,5 J. Chad Brenner,1,2,6 Jindan Yu,1,2 Jung H. Kim,1,3 Bo Han,1,2 Patrick Tan,5,7 Chandan Kumar-Sinha,1,2 Robert J. Lonigro,1,3 Nallasivam Palanisamy,1,2,5 Christopher A. Maher,1,2 Arul M. Chinnaiyan1,2,3,4,6,8{dagger}

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a mammalian histone methyltransferase that contributes to the epigenetic silencing of target genes and regulates the survival and metastasis of cancer cells. EZH2 is overexpressed in aggressive solid tumors by mechanisms that remain unclear. Here we show that the expression and function of EZH2 in cancer cell lines are inhibited by microRNA-101 (miR-101). Analysis of human prostate tumors revealed that miR-101 expression decreases during cancer progression, paralleling an increase in EZH2 expression. One or both of the two genomic loci encoding miR-101 were somatically lost in 37.5% of clinically localized prostate cancer cells (6 of 16) and 66.7% of metastatic disease cells (22 of 33). We propose that the genomic loss of miR-101 in cancer leads to overexpression of EZH2 and concomitant dysregulation of epigenetic pathways, resulting in cancer progression.

1 Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
2 Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
3 Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
4 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
5 Genome Institute of Singapore, 60 Biopolis Street, 02-01, Genome, Singapore 138672, Singapore.
6 Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
7 National Cancer Centre, 11 Hospital Drive, Singapore 169610, Singapore.
8 Department of Urology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: arul{at}umich.edu

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The Putative Tumor Suppressor microRNA-101 Modulates the Cancer Epigenome by Repressing the Polycomb Group Protein EZH2.
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