Silencing of hsa-miR-124 by EVI1 in cell lines and patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

We read with great interest the work published by Dickstein et al. (1) showing that induced EVI1 expression in a murine model silences miR-124 expression by DNA methylation. The EVI1 gene codes for a transcription factor implicated in the development and progression of high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (2, 3). We quantify the expression of 250 microRNAs (miRNAs; TaqManHuman miRNA assay set) in 15 myeloid cell lines. Statistical analysis comparing cell lines with and without EVI1 protein identified miRNAs differentially expressed (B > 0). Among them, cell lines with EVI1 protein had no expression of hsa-miR-124, whereas most cell lines with no EVI1 had high hsa-miR-124 expression (Table 1). Interestingly, MEG-01 cells, with EVI1 overexpression and no protein, expressed low levels of hsa-miR-124 (Fig. …