Abstract 536: Elucidating the role of miRNA-31 in retinoblastoma

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Retinoblastoma is the most common pediatric ocular cancer. Although early detection of the disease may have a favorable outcome for the patient, retinoblastoma can aggressively develop and become fatal. Current treatment strategies include focal therapies, chemotherapy and in more severe cases, enucleation (removal of the eye) is necessary. This cancer may initiate from acquired or inherited mutations in the RB1 gene. As a result, the mutant retinal cell is conferred an unrestrained proliferative ability that is facilitated by multiple genetic events. Determining the mechanism(s) responsible for tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis may provide an alternative treatment strategy that may delay enucleation, prevent toxic side effects from chemotherapy, or even prevent metastatic spread altogether. Genetic factors that are highly involved in both carcinogenesis and homeostasis are often regulated by miRNAs. miRNAs are small, non-coding molecules that negatively regulate gene expression by mediating mRNA cleavage and/or disrupting protein synthesis. Our rationale for this study is that investigating aberrant miRNA regulation in retinoblastoma will enable us to identify key genetic factors that can be targeted therapeutically. Our miRNA array suggests that there is a significant number of miRNAs whose expression is significantly downregulated between retinoblastoma tumors and normal human retinae. From this data, we have identified candidate miRNAs, such as miRNA-31, that have been previously reported to have an important anti-metastatic role in different cancer types. We are currently investigating the role of these miRNAs in regulating retinoblastoma progression. These functional studies will allow us to determine how increasing miRNA expression in retinoblastoma models can disrupt important signaling pathways associated with retinoblastoma progression and invasion. Citation Format: Vanessa Montoya, Paul J. Bryar, Marilyn Mets, Joanna Weinstein, Nikia Laurie. Elucidating the role of miRNA-31 in retinoblastoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 536. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-536