Abstract 1479: Differential expression of microRNAs in transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large B cell lymphoma
Authors: Musilova Katerina , Pavlasova Gabriela , Seda Vaclav , Vojackova Eva , Cerna Katerina , Svobodova Veronika , Pytlik Robert , Prochazka Vit , Prouzova Zuzana , Pospisilova Sarka , Zlamalikova Lenka , Mocikova Heidi , Kruzova Lenka , Jarosova Marie , Evans Andrew , Zent Clive , Kren Leos , Trneny Marek , Mayer Jiri , Janikova Andrea , Mraz Marek 
Published: July 2017

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, and are frequently aberrantly expressed in cancer. We aimed to understand their role in the transformation of indolent follicular lymphoma (FL) into an aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma. This happens in ~3% of cases per year during the course of the disease, and is associated with median survival of only 2 years. The NGS revealed number of aberrations associated with transformed FL (tFL), including frequent high-level activity of MYC (amplifications, translocations, and mutations) or loss of DNA damage regulators (p53, CDKN2A/B). Firstly, we performed a miRNA profiling (TaqMan miRNA Arrays) in paired FL and tFL samples (N=8 pairs). This revealed a relatively small group of 5 miRNAs that are consistently differentially expressed in tFL (P&lt;0.05, fold-change &gt;1.5). Since the most frequently acquired aberration in tFL is the high-level activity of MYC we performed a correlation analysis of MYC levels and expression of these miRNAs in additional samples of FL, tFL, and CLL samples with/without MYC duplication (N=40 FL/tFL, N=39 CLL). This revealed that at least one of these miRNAs is significantly down-modulated (P&lt;0.05) in cases with high-levels of MYC. The MYC-mediated repression of miRNA levels was also observed (P&lt;0.05) in B cells from transgenic MYC over-expressing mice (MYC controlled by an Ig-alpha enhancer) in comparison to wild-type animals (samples obtained from young animals before occurrence of any malignancy). We have further shown that the levels of this miRNA affect B cell proliferation in vitro, and its low-levels associate with percentage of Ki67 positive cells in FL samples (P&lt;0.005). Moreover, low levels of tFL-associated miRNA were present in FL cases with a shorter overall survival (P&lt;0.01), and its expression directly affected BCR signalling (calcium flux assay after anti-IgM). We have shown that the expression of this miRNA is not only down-modulated by high-level MYC expression, but also by B cell adhesion to stromal cells in co-culture in vitro (HS-5 stromal cells). This suggests that its normal physiological function might be related to regulation of B cell functions in the context of immune niches, and this might play a role in FL progression and transformation. It remains to be elucidated what other molecular mechanisms ensure low-level expression of the studied miRNA in cases that do not harbor MYC over-expression, and what pool of target mRNAs is regulated by this miRNA in FL cells.This work was supported by: the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. 16-29622A. All rights reserved. contact: marek.mraz@email.cz

Citation Format: Katerina Musilova, Gabriela Pavlasova, Vaclav Seda, Eva Vojackova, Katerina Cerna, Veronika Svobodova, Robert Pytlik, Vit Prochazka, Zuzana Prouzova, Sarka Pospisilova, Lenka Zlamalikova, Heidi Mocikova, Lenka Kruzova, Marie Jarosova, Andrew Evans, Clive Zent, Leos Kren, Marek Trneny, Jiri Mayer, Andrea Janikova, Marek Mraz. Differential expression of microRNAs in transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large B cell lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1479. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1479