Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease in which demyelinated lesions form in the central nervous system (CNS). A specific microRNA, miR-145-5p, is dysregulated both in blood samples from RRMS patients and in chronic lesions from progressive MS patients. In the context of remyelination, miR-145-5p regulation may be important as it exhibits strong differential regulation in oligodendrocytes (OLs), the myelinating cells of the CNS, and is also expressed in other CNS glial cell types. Dysregulation of miR-145-5p may therefore play into pathologies observed in both relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and progressive MS. Using pre-clinical rodent models, we aimed to determine how altering normal expression of miR-145-5p specifically affects OL maturation, and how the dysregulation observed in MS may affect various aspects of disease. First using a miR-145 knockdown model in primary rat OLs, we found in vitro that miR-145-5p plays a role both in maintaining oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in their proliferative state and preventing premature differentiation to OLs and that knockdown of miR-145 in OLs enhanced their differentiation. These effects were due at least in part to miR-145-5p regulation of a critical myelin gene transcription factor. The effects of miR-145-5p were further assessed in a miR-145 knockout mouse model in vivo. Contrary to in vitro assays, enhanced myelination was not detectable during development in these animals, nor when remyelination was assessed using the cuprizone toxic model of acute demyelination. However, chronic cuprizone exposure resulted in striking remyelination and functional recovery in miR-145 deficient animals. Sparse remyelination in wild-type animals with chronic cuprizone exposure was concomitant with upregulation of miR-145-5p, which was not the case with acute exposure, identifying miR-145-5p dysregulation as a unique feature of chronic demyelination. Specific assessment of miR-145-5p overexpression in OLs in vitro resulted in severe differentiation deficits and eventual apoptosis, driven molecularly by altered expression of multiple pathways critical to successful OL differentiation and subsequent myelination. Finally, we induced an inflammatory model of demyelination, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), in our miR-145 knockout mouse to assess the role of miR-145-5p in autoimmune-mediated myelin damage. The clinical severity of EAE in miR-145 deficient animals was reduced, and this was accompanied by reduced loss of myelin and lessened immune cell infiltration in miR-145 knockout spinal cords. Alterations in both astrocytic and microglial activation were detected with loss of miR-145, suggesting that improved clinical outcomes in this model may be underpinned by changes in EAE-mediated neuroinflammation. Collectively, these data suggest that miR-145-5p plays differing roles in both progressive and inflammatory MS, affecting multiple glial cell types in the CNS. Excitingly, loss of miR-145 expression in our mouse model of chronic demyelination allowed extensive remyelination and functional recovery following chronic demyelination, and in EAE improved clinical outcomes driven by underlying improvements in myelin retention and altered neuroinflammatory reactions. Thus, miR-145-5p merits further investigation as a potential therapeutic target to help overcome both remyelination failure in all forms of progressive MS and inflammation-driven demyelination in RRMS and early secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

A key problem in multiple sclerosis (MS) is the diminished capacity for myelin repair. Although oligodendrocyte (OL) precursors can be seen at the lesion site, their ability to differentiate appears inhibited. MicroRNAs are key regulators of OL differentiation, and have been observed to be misregulated in MS lesions compared to healthy white matter. Thus, aberrant microRNA expression in MS lesions may disrupt the ability of incoming oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC s) to differentiate. Specifically, a microRNA known as miR - 145 is downregulated as OPCs progress to OLs, but is found at unusually high levels in MS lesions. In this study, we investigated how misregulation of miR - 145 affects OL differentiation in vitro. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that putative targets of miR - 145 are significantly enriched for factors which promote actin cytoskeleton organization and myelination. An immortalized OL cell line was transduced with an inducible lentivirus to create stable lines that overexpress miR - 145. These stable lines were characterized while proliferating, early in differentiation and late in differentiation. Immunofluorescence was used to quantify changes in proliferation rate, apoptosis, branching ability and myelin gene expression. qPCR arrays were used to quantify changes in microRNA target expression levels between induced and uninduced cells. Two stable lines were created: ON - 145 - 1 and ON - 145 - 2, which upon induction, over - express miR - 145 ~33 - fold and ~11 - fold, respectively. When proliferating, no significant morphological differences nor target expression differences could be detected between induced and uninduced cells. Proliferation was significantly decreased in ON - 145 - 1 induced cells, but not in ON - 145 - 2. No changes in apoptosis frequency were detected. In contrast, during early and late differentiation, both induced cell lines showed significant morphological defects characterized by a reduction in both iii primary and secondary branching. Further, significant differences in branching ability were observed between induced cells of ON - 145 - 1 and ON - 145 - 2, suggesting a dose - dependent response to miR - 145 overexpression. Expression of MAG, a myelin marker, was also significantly lowered in induced cells of both cell lines. Finally, we found that multiple miR - 145 targets involved in promoting cytoskeletal organization and myelination were significantly decreased both early and late in differentiation. These results suggest that overexpression of miR - 145 during OL differentiation may disrupt actin organization and myelin gene expression required for successful process extension and subsequent myelinating ability. Thus, the increase in miR - 145 in MS lesions may be a significant contributing factor to the loss of myelin repair in MS lesions.

Etwa 25 % der Nierenzellkarzinome (RCC) weisen bei Diagnosestellung bereits Metastasen auf. Aufgrund der schlechten Prognose des metastasierten RCC besteht ein dringender Bedarf an neuen Therapieformen sowie an prognostischen und diagnostischen Markern. microRNAs (miRNAs) bieten sich dabei als vielversprechende molekulare Biomarker an. Für den klarzelligen RCC-Subtypen (ccRCC) wurde bereits ein umfangreiches miRNA Expressionsprofil erstellt, mit dem ccRCC-relevante, vorwiegend herunterregulierte miRNAs identifiziert werden konnten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass die Expression der miR-141 und miR-145 in RCC-Zelllinien durch epigenetische Mechanismen gehemmt ist und die Promotorbereiche dieser miRNAs stark methyliert vorliegen. In RCC-Zellen konnte eine tumorsuppressive Wirkung dieser miRNAs durch Hemmung der Migration (beide) und Invasion (miR-141) nachgewiesen werden. Durch die gleichzeitige Überexpression der beiden miRNAs kam es zu einer kooperativen Wirkung und so zu einer verstärkten Hemmung der Zellmigration. Weitere Untersuchungen konnten eine Reihe neuer onkogener Targets der miR 141 und miR 145 identifizieren. Dabei zeigte sich ein kooperativer Effekt durch Kombination beider miRNAs auf die Expression der Targets HS6ST2 und LOX. Die Targets LOX und MAP4K4 waren in ccRCC Gewebe auf mRNA-Ebene stark überexprimiert im Vergleich zum umliegenden Normalgewebe. Bei der anschließenden Tissue-Mikroarray-Analyse der Expression auf Proteinebene zeigte sich zudem ein prognostisches Potenzial der Targets LOX und MAP4K4 für das Gesamtüberleben von ccRCC Patienten. Diese Daten verdeutlichen den enormen Einfluss von epigenetisch dysregulierten miRNAs und deren spezifischen Targets auf tumorassoziierte Prozesse. Zudem bietet das Netzwerk aus Epigenetik, miRNAs und deren jeweiligen Targets nicht nur eine Reihe von diagnostischen und prognostischen Möglichkeiten, sondern liefert auch viele Ansatzpunkte für die Entwicklung von neuen therapeutischen Strategien. / Approximately 25 % of diagnosed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have already metastasized. Due to poor prognosis of metastatic RCC, there is an urgent need for new therapies and prognostic and diagnostic markers to identify high-risk patients. Here microRNAs (miRNAs) might be promising new molecular biomarkers. For the clear cell RCC subtype (ccRCC) a comprehensive miRNA expression profile was already established. In this profiling several ccRCC-associated, predominantly down-regulated miRNAs were identified. In the present study, epigenetic mechanisms were identified to play a significant role in the down regulation of miR-141 and miR-145 in RCC cell lines. In addition, a strong methylation of the corresponding promoter regions was detected at molecular level. In RCC cells a tumor suppressive effect of these miRNAs was shown by decreasing migration (both) and invasion (miR-141) and furthermore, co overexpression of both miRNAs resulted in a cooperative effect with increased inhibition of cell migration. Several new oncogenic targets of miR-141 and miR-145 were identified by further investigations. Here the two miRNAs again showed a cooperative effect, as demonstrated by a significantly increased inhibition of HS6ST2 and LOX expression. In ccRCC tissue the expression of LOX and MAP4K4 was strongly enhanced on mRNA level compared to normal tissue. In the subsequent tissue microarray analysis of protein expression, LOX and MAP4K4 showed a prognostic impact for the overall survival of patients with ccRCC. These results illustrate a huge impact of epigenetically dysregulated miRNAs and of their specific targets on tumor-associated processes. Furthermore, the network of epigenetics, miRNAs and their respective targets will offer a number of diagnostic and prognostic capabilities, but will also provide many opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Yes / Type 2 diabetes mellitus prevalence is growing globally, and the leading cause of mortality in these patients is cardiovascular disease. Epigenetic mechanisms such as microRNAs (miRs) and DNA methylation may contribute to complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. We discovered an aberrant type 2 diabetes mellitus–smooth muscle cell phenotype driven by persistent up-regulation of miR-145. This study aimed to determine whether elevated expression was due to changes in methylation at the miR-145 promoter. Smooth muscle cells were cultured from saphenous veins of 22 non-diabetic and 22 type 2 diabetes mellitus donors. DNA was extracted, bisulphite treated and pyrosequencing used to interrogate methylation at 11 CpG sites within the miR-145 promoter. Inter-patient variation was high irrespective of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Differential methylation trends were apparent between non-diabetic and type 2 diabetes mellitus–smooth muscle cells at most sites but were not statistically significant. Methylation at CpGs −112 and −106 was consistently lower than all other sites explored in non-diabetic and type 2 diabetes mellitus–smooth muscle cells. Finally, miR-145 expression per se was not correlated with methylation levels observed at any site. The persistent up-regulation of miR- 145 observed in type 2 diabetes mellitus–smooth muscle cells is not related to methylation at the miR-145 promoter. Crucially, miR-145 methylation is highly variable between patients, serving as a cautionary note for future studies of this region in primary human cell types.

The increasing demand on healthcare from pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes (GDM) and obesity is caused in large part by fetal macrosomia (FM). Alterations to the vasculature of the placenta leading to changes to nutrient flux may be more frequent when GDM and obesity occur concomitantly. However, the impact of obesity as an independent comorbidity is poorly understood. The current study sought to characterise structural and functional changes in placenta from pregnancies complicated by GDM and/or obesity and examine the involvement of miRs in this phenomenon, as the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) has been documented to be influenced by microRNA (miR) expression. Patients were stratified according to the presence or absence of GDM and/or obesity, which resulted in four groups. Morphometric analysis of CD31 immuno-stained placentas showed that pregnancies complicated by GDM or obesity both had a higher mean sum ratio of the area of the lumen compared to the endothelium. No relationship was found with FM. The ratio increased with maternal body mass index (BMI) in all pregnancies. Immunohistochemistry with a panel of VSM markers suggested an altered phenotype of VSM in pregnancies complicated by GDM and/or obesity. RT-QPCR and immunoblotting showed a higher expression of smooth muscle myosin (SM-MHC), h-caldesmon (HC) and alpha smooth muscle actin (ASMA) in pregnancies complicated by obesity, consistent with a greater contractile capacity. This was most marked when obesity occurred without GDM.Studies were conducted on two miRs, miR-145, which is associated with VSM in many vascular tissues, and the snoRNA-derived species miR-664a-3p, which microarray studies had shown to be higher in placentas from pregnancies complicated by GDM. Dicer and dyskerin, components of the snoRNA-derived miR biogenesis pathway, were increased and reduced respectively in GDM placenta. However, studies in cultured placental villous explants suggested that neither miR species was regulated by glucose, insulin or IGF-I. Placental mesenchymal cells are the developmental precursors of VSM. In primary culture, these cells expressed both miRs. To determine the function of miR-664a-3p, a nucleofection protocol was developed in a fetal mesenchymal cell line, WI38, and applied to first-trimester placental mesenchymal cells. Preliminary proteomic analysis after nucleofection-mediated knockdown of miR-664a-3p suggested a series of novel candidate target proteins for this uncharacterised miR species. Blood vessel structure and VSM phenotype are both altered in pregnancies complicated by GDM and/or obesity. The significance of apparently higher level of contractile proteins with wider vessel lumens in obesity requires further investigation. Translational regulation by miRs including miR-145 and miR-664a-3p is implicated in these alterations. In future, targeted therapies that alter miR levels in the placenta may be useful in control of fetal overgrowth such as FM.