miR-181b negatively regulates activation-induced cytidine deaminase in B cells

VG De Yébenes, L Belver, DG Pisano… - The Journal of …, 2008 - rupress.org
The Journal of experimental medicine, 2008rupress.org
Activated B cells reshape their primary antibody repertoire after antigen encounter by two
molecular mechanisms: somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination
(CSR). SHM and CSR are initiated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) through
the deamination of cytosine residues on the immunoglobulin loci, which leads to the
generation of DNA mutations or double-strand break intermediates. As a bystander effect,
endogenous AID levels can also promote the generation of chromosome translocations …
Activated B cells reshape their primary antibody repertoire after antigen encounter by two molecular mechanisms: somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). SHM and CSR are initiated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) through the deamination of cytosine residues on the immunoglobulin loci, which leads to the generation of DNA mutations or double-strand break intermediates. As a bystander effect, endogenous AID levels can also promote the generation of chromosome translocations, suggesting that the fine tuning of AID expression may be critical to restrict B cell lymphomagenesis. To determine whether microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in the regulation of AID expression, we performed a functional screening of an miRNA library and identified miRNAs that regulate CSR. One such miRNA, miR-181b, impairs CSR when expressed in activated B cells, and results in the down-regulation of AID mRNA and protein levels. We found that the AID 3′ untranslated region contains multiple putative binding sequences for miR-181b and that these sequences can be directly targeted by miR-181b. Overall, our results provide evidence for a new regulatory mechanism that restricts AID activity and can therefore be relevant to prevent B cell malignant transformation.
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