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Small RNAs

Pseudogenes act as microRNA decoys

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 10, page 535 (2010)Cite this article

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Poliseno, Salmena et al. investigated PTENP1 , a pseudogene of the tumour suppressor gene PTEN . They found several binding sites for miRNAs that target PTEN in the 3′ UTR of PTENP1 mRNA. Furthermore, in prostate cancer cells, expression of PTEN-targeting miRNAs led to downregulation of both PTEN and PTENP1 mRNAs, confirming that PTENP1 is subject to miRNA-mediated regulation.

Does miRNA binding by PTENP1 affect the tumour suppressive activities of PTEN? Overexpression of the PTENP1 3′ untranslated region (UTR) led to increased levels of PTEN transcripts and protein and to growth inhibition in prostate cancer cells. This derepression of PTEN by the PTENP1 3′ UTR was abrogated in DICER -null colon carcinoma cells, which are defective in miRNA processing. These findings suggest that mature miRNAs are needed for PTENP1 to regulate PTEN levels.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Poliseno, L. et al. A coding-independent function of gene and pseudogene mRNAs regulates tumour biology. Nature 465, 1033–1038 (2010)

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  1. Meera Swami
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Swami, M. Pseudogenes act as microRNA decoys. Nat Rev Cancer 10, 535 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2898

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