Both gain and loss of function of miR-126 promote t(8;21) leukemia progression with different consequences and through different mechanisms

To investigate the pathological effect of miR-126 on the progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) induced by AML1-ETO9a (AE9a), we conducted a series of mouse bone marrow transplantation (BMT) assays with the following groups: AE9a (primary donor cells were wild-type mouse bone marrow progenitor (i.e., lineage negative; Lin-) cells retrovirally transduced with MSCV-PIG-AE9a), AE9a+miR-126 (primary donor cells were wild-type mouse bone marrow progenitor (i.e., Lin-) cells retrovirally transduced with MSCV-PIG-AE9a-miR-126), and miR-126KO+AE9a (primary donor cells were miR-126 knockout mouse bone marrow progenitor (i.e., Lin-) cells retrovirally transduced with MSCV-PIG-AE9a), along with a control group (primary donor cells were wild-type mouse bone marrow progenitor (i.e., Lin-) cells retrovirally transduced with MSCV-PIG empty vector). The control group was only used in the primary and secondary BMT assays, whereas the three leukemic groups including AE9a, AE9a+miR-126 and miR-126KO+AE9a were used in four passages (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary) of BMT assays. Then, gene expression profiling was conducted with bone marrow samples collected from different groups to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying miR-126 effects on leukemia initiation and progression and maintenance and self-renewal of leukemia stem/initiating cells.

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Li Z, Chen P, Su R, Li Y, Hu C, Wang Y, Arnovitz S, He M, Gurbuxani S, Zuo Z, Elkahloun AG, Li S, Weng H, Huang H, Neilly MB, Wang S, Olson EN, Larson RA, Le Beau MM, Zhang J, Jiang X, Wei M, Jin J, Liu PP, Chen J