Bioinformatic and metabolomic analysis reveals miR-155 regulates thiamine level in breast cancer.

microRNA-155 (miR-155) is one of the well-known oncogenic miRNA implicated in various types of tumors. Thiamine, commonly known as vitamin B1, is one of critical cofactors for energy metabolic enzymes including pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and transketolase. Here we report a novel role of miR-155 in cancer metabolism through the up-regulation of thiamine in breast cancer cells. A bioinformatic analysis of miRNA array and metabolite-profiling data from NCI-60 cancer cell panel revealed thiamine as a metabolite positively correlated with the miR-155 expression level. We confirmed it in MCF7, MDA-MB-436 and two human primary breast cancer cells by showing reduced thiamine levels upon a knock-down of miR-155. To understand how the miR-155 controls thiamine level, a set of key molecules for thiamine homeostasis were further analyzed after the knockdown of miR-155. The results showed the expression of two thiamine transporter genes (SLC19A2, SLC25A19) as well as thiamine pyrophosphokinase-1 (TPK1) were decreased in both RNA and protein level in miR-155 dependent manner. Finally, we confirm the finding by showing a positive correlation between miR-155 and thiamine level in 71 triple negative breast tumors. Taken altogether, our study demonstrates a role of miR-155 in thiamine homeostasis and suggests a function of this oncogenic miRNA on breast cancer metabolism.