Identification of Micrornas Involved in Camptothecin-Induced Apoptosis in Jurkat T Cell Line

Abstract

MicroRNAs which are non-coding RNAs 19-25 nt in length regulate gene expression at post-transcriptional and translational stages. Although it is known that they play a role in critical processes such as development and differentiation of T cells a major component of the immune system, the function of miRNAs in T cell apoptosis is unknown. This study has aimed to identify miRNAs. involvement in camptothecininduced T cell apoptosis in the Jurkat T cell leukemia cell line model. Following the enrichment of the apoptotic population by magnetic seperation, the negative and apoptotic fractions were profilled and compared according to the expression levels of microRNAs. Out of the 866 miRNAs in the miRBASE, 37 and 58 of them were downand up-regulated in the apoptotic fraction, respectively. 7 miRNAs were members of the clusters that have predicted targets as anti-apoptotic genes and tumour suppressor proteins. 66 miRNAs have no known function. Candidate miRNAs, selected based on their higher differential expression levels with predicted apoptotic/antiapoptotic targets, will be verified by qPCR. These candidate then will be further characterized by overxpression and knock-down studies.