Alterations in microRNA expression linked to microcystin-LR-induced tumorigenicity in human WRL-68 Cells

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is a cyclic heptapeptide that acts as a potent hepatotoxin and carcinogen. However, the mechanism of its carcinogenic action remains undetermined. In this study, MC-LR was used to induce the malignant transformation of the WRL-68 cell line. Alterations in microRNA (miRNA) expression in the transformed cell were analyzed to determine the role of miRNAs in MC-LR-induced carcinogenesis. Cultured WRL-68 cells (labeled 25MC10) were continuously exposed to a low concentration (10 μg/L) of MC-LR for 25 passages. Compared with the mock-treated parental cells, the induced 25MC10 cells exhibited a higher growth rate, resistance to serum-induced terminal differentiation, and tumorigenicity in a nude mouse xenograft test. A pilot miRNA expression array analysis was conducted on the 25MC10 cells, followed by validation of select miRNAs by RT-PCR. We found that the onco-miRNAs miR-21 and miR-221 displayed upregulated expression while the liver-specific miR-122 was downregulated. These results suggest that chronic MC-LR exposure alters the miRNA expression profile of WRL-68 cells and causes phenotypic transformation. We propose that characteristic miRNA alterations could be used as molecular targets for the development of environmental water monitoring methods.

► Chronic exposure to MC-LR can cause WRL-68 cell malignant transformation.
► Changes in miRNAs expression are common in malignant transformation cells.
► The marked response of miRNAs to MC-LR exposure may guide the development of miRNA-based environmental monitoring techniques.