MiR-29b-3p cooperates with miR-29c-3p to affect the malignant biological behaviors in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia via TFAP2C/GPX1 axis.

Mounting evidence has illustrated the tumor regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), a malignant carcinoma originated from T-cell precursors. However, the possible regulation mechanisms underlying miR-29b/29c-3p in T-ALL have not been interrogated yet. The aim of our study was to probe the association and possible molecular mechanism of miR-29b/29c-3p and Glutathione Peroxidase 1 (GPX1), a predicted highly expressed gene in acute myeloid leukemia (LAML) tissues on the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) website. In our paper, it was observed that GPX1 was relatively overexpressed in T-ALL cells, compared with normal T cells. Loss-of-function assays demonstrated that GPX1 knockdown inhibited the proliferation and activated the apoptosis in T-ALL cells. Then miR-29b/29c-3p was confirmed to regulate GPX1 mRNA and protein expression via decreasing Transcription Factor AP-2 Gamma (TFAP2C) expression. In summary, miR-29b-3p and miR-29c-3p targeted TFAP2C so as to repress GPX1 transcription, thereafter inhibiting GPXA expression. In the end, rescue experiments proved the whole regulation mechanism of miR-29b/29c-3p in T-ALL. Overall, the miR-29b/29c-3p -TFAP2C-GPX1 axis helped us to have a better understanding of T-ALL pathogenesis.