Expression profiling of ETO2-regulated miRNAs in erythroid cells: Possible influence on miRNA abundance

• miRNA profiling was conducted in ETO2-overexpressing and ETO2-silenced K562 cells.
• ETO2 positively regulates the abundance of miRNA.
• ETO2 positively regulates the expression of miR-21, miR-29b and let-7e.

ETO2 is a component of a protein complex containing master regulators of hematopoiesis, including GATA-1 and SCL/TAL1, and also has RNA binding properties. Although ETO2 has been reported to repress GATA-1 target genes through histone deacetylation of the target gene loci in erythroid cells, little is known about the contribution of ETO2 to microRNA (miRNA) regulation. Here, we conducted miRNA profiling in ETO2-overexpressing and ETO2-silenced K562 cells. The analysis suggests that ETO2 positively regulates the abundance of mature miRNAs, including miR-21, miR-29b and let-7e. Our data suggest a novel mode of ETO2-mediated target gene repression via effects on miRNA expression.