Abstract 2518: Function of microRNA-10a in cholangiocarcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Cholangiocarcinoma, a primary liver cancer of the bile ducts, effects 6,000 patients yearly and incidence has been growing consistently over the past 15 years. Current therapies for cholangiocarcinoma are not curative and patient survival is less than 1 year after diagnosis. Strides toward new treatment rest on better understanding tumor biology. The expression of microRNAs in cholangiocarcinoma cells was analyzed by RNAseq after knockdown of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) to identify potential microRNAs regulated by FGFR4. Caspase activity was used to evaluate miR-10a roles in anti-apoptotic signaling. Cell scratch assays were used to test cell migration and cell counting was used to determine proliferation. Quantitative real time PCR was used to measure miR-10a levels in cholangiocarcinoma cell lines Mz-ChA-1, HUCCT-1 and KMCH after FGFR4 knockdown with siRNA. Potential target proteins of miR-10a were evaluated by western blot. Preliminary data showed dozens of microRNAs (miRs) in cholangiocarcinoma cells were modulated by FGFR4 knockdown. Treatment with siRNA to FGFR4 caused increased sensitivity to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, and also reduced miR-10a expression in Mz-ChA-1, HuCCT-1, and KMCH cell lines. Importantly, apoptosis sensitization was reversed by restoring miR-10a expression in cells. miR-10a helped regulate both cell proliferation and cell migration in cholangiocarcinoma cells. When miR-10a was increased in cholangiocarcinoma cells, migration and proliferation increased. When miR-10a was decreased these effects also decreased. Protein targets of miR-10a included the MAP Kinase-related proteins MLK-1 & TAK-1. Other protein targets such as PHLDA1 & AKTIP were also identified. Notably, microRNA binding prediction programs did not include MLK-1 as a target, though our sequence analysis shows multiple stable binding sites. MLK-1 showed the most dramatic response to miR-10a. We investigated the role miR-10a plays for cholangiocarcinoma and the mechanism through which this pathway is regulated. Data supports miR-10a as a key player in cell survival, proliferation and migration. We have identified a set of proteins that are regulated by miR-10a in cholangiocarcinoma cells. Looking forward, identification of the function of these proteins will help elucidate how miR-10a functions in cholangiocarcinoma progression. Citation Format: Matthieu Spriet, Cody Wehrkamp, Brandon Henslee, Ashley Mohr, Steve Kachman, Justin Mott. Function of microRNA-10a in cholangiocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2518.