Low expression of miR-150 in pediatric intestinal Burkitt lymphoma.

BACKGROUND

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a highly aggressive B-cell lymphoma with rapid proliferation. It has become evident that miRNAs are involved in hematopoietic malignancies. This study was undertaken to investigate the miRNA expression patterns of pediatric intestinal BL tissues.

METHODS

We collected 28 BL and 8 reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) samples. miRNA expression profiling was performed in BL and RLH tissues to identify BL-related miRNAs, which were further analyzed by qRT-PCR and miRNA-ISH. In addition, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot were used to define the protein targets of the BL-related miRNAs. Furthermore, we evaluated cell growth status by using methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in Raji cell line, which was transected with the BL-related miRNA mimics or inhibitors.

RESULTS

miRNA expression profiling showed that miR-150 had extremely decreased expression levels in BL patients. In both ISH and qRT-PCR analyses, BL had reduced levels of miR-150 expression compared with RLH. However, there is no significant correlation of miR-150 expression and EBV status in BL. Moreover, IHC and western blotting defined that c-Myb and Survivin are the protein targets of miR-150. Re-expression of miR-150 reduced the proliferation of Raji cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Deregulation of miR-150 may be useful as a diagnostic tool in BL, based on miRNA profile screening, qRT-PCR and miRNA-ISH. miR-150 plays an important role in BL by targeting c-Myb and Survivin. Re-expression of miR-150 reduced the proliferation of Raji cells, which suggests it to be a promising novel candidate for tumor treatment.