Overexpression of miR-210, a downstream target of HIF1α, causes centrosome amplification in renal carcinoma cells.

MiR-210 is significantly up-regulated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCC), but the mechanism and biological consequences of miR-210 up-regulation are poorly understood. Here, we show that miR-210 is highly expressed in renal carcinoma cell lines and that its expression is clearly correlated with accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) under normoxia as well as hypoxia, suggesting that miR-210 up-regulation in renal carcinoma cells is most likely due to accumulation of HIF1α. To reveal the effects of miR-210 up-regulation, the miR-210 precursor was transfected into renal carcinoma cells. After transfection, the cells accumulated at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and their viability was decreased, suggesting that miR-210 overexpression may trigger an event that hinders normal cell division. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated a multipolar spindle accompanied by centrosome amplification in cells overexpressing miR-210. It has been reported that centrosome amplification induces chromosome mis-segregation, finally leading to chromosome instability and aneuploidy. Indeed, the proportion of aneuploid cells (>4n) was increased in miR-210 overexpressed cells. By using the TargetScan and PicTar algorithms, E2F3 was identified as one of the possible targets of miR-210 and was suppressed at the protein level by miR-210. Moreover, the proportion of aneuploid cells was increased in E2F3 siRNA transfected cells. On the basis of these results, we propose that miR-210 up-regulation due to HIF1α accumulation may induce aneuploidy via E2F3 down-regulation at least in part, and may play a role in tumourigenesis and/or progression of CCC.