Question

Research Paper Written Assignment # 2 Title: Dual inhibition of ABCE1 and LCP1 by microRNA-96 results in an additive effect in breast cancer mouse model Authors: Nir Pillarl, Avital Luba Polskyl and Noam Shomron 1. What is a micro RNA? 2. What is the function of mir96? 3. What are the oncogenes in this paper? Define oncogene 4. What happens to LCP1 and ABCE1 when mir96 is OE in a migration and invasion assay using of 4TI breast cancer cells S. Explain LCPl gene expression in human breast cancer tissues 6. What would you expect to be the expression patterns of ABCE1 in breast cancer tissue versus nomal breast tissue? 7. What is meant when the paper says that mir96 has dual inhibition? Briefly explain 8. What does the term "down regulation" mean?

Answer 1

1. microRNA: these are small (about 18-28 nucleotides long) non coding RNA molecules developed from protein coding transcriptional units. They can target multiple genes, thus regulates the post-transcriptional modifications. They play role in differentiating normal and pathological cellular processes. Recently, the microRNAs are reported to be related with breast cancer tumor growth.

2. function of mir96: mir96 stands for microRNA 96. This gene plays a key role in the regulation of ABCE 1 gene, responsible for the breast cancer tumor growth.

3. Oncogenes. in the given paper: Oncogenes are those genes, which have potential to be converted in cancerous cell from normal ones under certain circumstances. The oncogenes in this paper are: ABCE1 and LCP1.

4. The authors reported in the paper that over-expression (OE) of mir96 inhibits the genes ABCE1 and LCP1, which results into reduced cell migration and invasion.

5. LCP1 gene expression in human breast cancer tissues: LCP1 are proteins which bind to actins participating in the cytoskeleton remodeling. The expression of LCP1 in non diseased human breast is lower but increases when the tumor severs in breast. Its regulation is considered to be effected by mir96.

6. Expression Patterns of ABCE1 in beast cancer tissues: ABCE1 is a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family. This protein interacts with beta actin and expressed in the tumor cells, while it interacts with other targets to be expressed in normal cells.

7. mir96 dual inhibition: single microRNA are considered to target multiple genes. The paper reported that mir96 can target both the genes - ABCE1 and LCP1 and inhibit the tumor growth.

8. Down-regulation: Down regulation is the process in which the cell lowers the expression of RNA or proteins in presence of nay internal or external stimulus.