Expression signatures of intragenic miRNAs and their corresponding host genes in myeloid leukemia cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs involved in gene regulation. Approximately half of miRNAs are located within known genes and called intragenic miRNAs. 408 human intragenic miRNAs and their corresponding host genes were analyzed for genomic organization and functional characterization. Using quantitative real-time PCR, the expression levels of a subset of intragenic miRNAs and their host genes were examined in diverse myeloid leukemia cell lines, and their regulation in response to pharmacological stimuli was also evaluated. Expression of miR-22 strongly correlated with both myeloid leukemia subtypes and the expression of its host gene C17orf91 (p < 0.05). The latter was absent in hematopoietic progenitors but abundant in erythroid and monocytic lineages. These results demonstrated that the expression signatures of miR-22 and C17orf91 are associated with developmental lineages and specific leukemia subtypes.