Effect of microRNA-206 on G1 arrest by inhibition of CDK4, cyclin C, and cyclin D in melanoma cells.

e20047 Background: MiR-206 has been implicated in a large number of cancers. However, its role in tumor biology is unknown and its biological function has yet to be fully characterized. To examine the role of miR-206 in cancer, we examined the expression of miR-206 in melanoma and identified potential target transcriptss that could be important for the progression of this disease. Methods: Using quantitative RT-PCR we compared expression of 364 microRNAs in melanoma skin biopsies skin from normal donors, melanoma cell lines, and normal melanocytes. The effects of miR-206 on cell growth, apoptosis, and cellular migration/invasion were determined using in vitro assays comparing melanoma cell lines to normal melanocytes. Putative mRNA targets of miR-206 were bioinfomatically identified, and empirically tested by luciferase-3’UTR reporter assays. The effect of miR-206 on the cell cycle of melanoma cells was assayed by flow cytometry. Results: Expression profiling of microRNAs in melanoma lesional skin biopsie...