Figure 7
From: Up-regulated miR-133a orchestrates epithelial-mesenchymal transition of airway epithelial cells
Graphical summary of data. Normal airway epithelial cells have little miR133a and abundant expression of transcription factor GRHL2, which drives the expression of ESRP1. ESRP1-mediated splicing of p120ctn pre-mRNA gives rise to p120ctn 3 mRNA. After translation, this p120ctn 3 isoform stabilizes the E-cadherin molecules that form cross linkage attachments to other nearby cells to give an epithelial cell phenotype. Up-regulated miR-133a binds directly to GRHL2 and represses its expression, which thereby represses the expression of ESRP1. With this repression of ESPR1, the p120ctn 1 mRNA is increased and translated to its protein isoform 1. Loss of p120ctn 3 leads to destabilization of E-cadherin in the plasma membrane and subsequent degradation. With sufficient levels of miR-133a, this loss of E-cadherin facilitates the transformation of airway epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells.
