The MUC1 and galectin-3 oncoproteins function in a microRNA-dependent regulatory loop.

The MUC1 heterodimeric transmembrane glycoprotein is aberrantly overexpressed by diverse human carcinomas. Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside binding protein that has also been associated with the development of human cancers. The present results demonstrate that MUC1 induces galectin-3 expression by a posttranscriptional mechanism. We show that the MUC1 C-terminal subunit is glycosylated on Asn-36 and that this modification is necessary for upregulation of galectin-3. N-glycosylated MUC1-C increases galectin-3 mRNA levels by suppressing expression of the microRNA miR-322 and thereby stabilizing galectin-3 transcripts. The results show that, in turn, galectin-3 binds to MUC1-C at the glycosylated Asn-36 site. The significance of the MUC1-C-galectin-3 interaction is supported by the demonstration that galectin-3 forms a bridge between MUC1 and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and that galectin-3 is essential for EGF-mediated interactions between MUC1 and EGFR. These findings indicate that MUC1 and galectin-3 function as part of a miR-322-dependent regulatory loop.