Chu Yu-De, Wang Wei-Chieh, Chen Shi-An A, Hsu Yen-Ting, Yeh Meng-Wei, Slack Frank J, Chan Shih-Peng
Graduate Institute of Microbiology; College of Medicine; National Taiwan University; Taipei, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Microbiology; College of Medicine; National Taiwan University; Taipei, Taiwan; Genome and Systems Biology Degree Program; College of Life Science; National Taiwan University; Taipei, Taiwan.
Cell Cycle. 2014;13(12):1995-2009. doi: 10.4161/cc.29017. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
The let-7 microRNA (miRNA) regulates cell cycle exit and terminal differentiation in the C. elegans heterochronic gene pathway. Low expression of let-7 results in retarded vulva and hypodermal cell development in C. elegans and has been associated with several human cancers. Previously, the versatile scaffold protein receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) was proposed to facilitate recruitment of the miRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC) to the polysome and to be required for miRNA function in C. elegans and humans. Here, we show that depletion of C. elegans RACK-1 by RNAi increases let-7 miRNA levels and suppresses the retarded terminal differentiation of lateral hypodermal seam cells in mutants carrying the hypomorphic let-7(n2853) allele or lacking the let-7 family miRNA genes mir-48 and mir-241. Depletion of RACK-1 also increases the levels of precursor let-7 miRNA. When Dicer is knocked down and pre-miRNA processing is inhibited, depletion of RACK-1 still leads to increased levels of pre-let-7, suggesting that RACK-1 affects a biogenesis mechanism upstream of Dicer. No changes in the activity of the let-7 promoter or the levels of primary let-7 miRNA are associated with depletion of RACK-1, suggesting that RACK-1 affects let-7 miRNA biogenesis at the post-transcriptional level. Interestingly, rack-1 knockdown also increases the levels of a few other precursor miRNAs. Our results reveal that RACK-1 controls the biogenesis of a subset of miRNAs, including let-7, and in this way plays a role in the heterochronic gene pathway during C. elegans development.
let-7微小RNA(miRNA)在秀丽隐杆线虫异时性基因通路中调控细胞周期退出和终末分化。let-7低表达导致秀丽隐杆线虫外阴和皮下细胞发育迟缓,并与多种人类癌症相关。此前,有人提出多功能支架蛋白活化C激酶1受体(RACK1)有助于将miRNA诱导沉默复合体(miRISC)募集到多核糖体,并且是秀丽隐杆线虫和人类中miRNA功能所必需的。在此,我们表明,通过RNA干扰耗尽秀丽隐杆线虫的RACK-1会增加let-7 miRNA水平,并抑制携带低功能let-7(n2853)等位基因或缺乏let-7家族miRNA基因mir-48和mir-241的突变体中侧皮下缝细胞的终末分化迟缓。耗尽RACK-1也会增加前体let-7 miRNA的水平。当Dicer被敲低且前体miRNA加工受到抑制时,耗尽RACK-1仍会导致前体let-7水平升高,这表明RACK-1影响Dicer上游的生物合成机制。let-7启动子活性或初级let-7 miRNA水平的变化与RACK-1的耗尽无关,这表明RACK-1在转录后水平影响let-7 miRNA的生物合成。有趣的是,敲低rack-1也会增加其他一些前体miRNA的水平。我们的结果表明,RACK-1控制包括let-7在内的一部分miRNA的生物合成,并以此在秀丽隐杆线虫发育过程中的异时性基因通路中发挥作用。