Skip to main content
. 2021 Mar 6;13(5):1137. doi: 10.3390/cancers13051137

Figure 2.

Figure 2

MicroRNA (miRNA) as epigenetic modifiers in endometrial cancer. Schematic summary of the three epigenetic mechanisms known to involve miRNAs. (A) miRNAs can act as tumor suppressors or as oncomiRNAs. miR-200 binds directly to PTEN resulting in the inhibition of apoptosis. miR-182 binds directly to LRIG2 leading to inhibition of cell growth while the miR-182-mediated decrease in cullin-5 protein levels results in increased cell proliferation. (B) CpG-rich domains of miRNA loci can be hypo- or hyper-methylated. Hyper-methylation of the miR-129-2 locus leads to decreased expression of this miRNA, which acts as a natural inhibitor of the SOX4 oncogene, thereby activating SOX4. (C) TET1 expression is downregulated by miR-191 through the mRNA-miRNA interaction in the 3’-untranslated region of TET1. Downregulation of the TET1 protein is accompanied by hyper-methylation of the promotor region of tumor suppressors like adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), resulting in decreased gene expression and attenuated levels of APC protein.