Relief of microRNA-mediated translational repression in human cells subjected to stress

Abstract

In metazoans, most microRNAs imperfectly base-pair with the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of target mRNAs and prevent protein accumulation by either repressing translation or inducing mRNA degradation. Examples of specific mRNAs undergoing microRNA-mediated repression are numerous, but whether the repression is a reversible process remains largely unknown. Here we show that cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT-1) mRNA and reporters bearing its 3′UTR can be relieved from the microRNA miR-122-induced inhibition in human hepatocarcinoma cells subjected to different stress conditions. The derepression of CAT-1 mRNA is accompanied by its release from cytoplasmic processing bodies and its recruitment to polysomes. The derepression requires binding of HuR, an AU-rich-element binding protein, to the 3′UTR of CAT-1 mRNA. We propose that proteins interacting with the 3′UTR will generally act as modifiers altering the potential of miRNAs to repress gene expression.