miR-17-92 sustains lymphoma growth by fine-tuning MYC

The synergism between c-MYC and miR-17-19b, a truncated version of the miR-17-92 cluster, is well documented during tumor initiation. However, little is known about miR-17-19b function in established cancers. Here we investigate the role of miR-17-19b in c-MYC-driven lymphomas by integrating SILAC-based quantitative proteomics, transcriptomics and 3’ UTR analysis upon miR-17-19b overexpression. We identify over one hundred novel miR-17-19b targets, of which 40% are co-regulated by c-MYC. Down-regulation of a new miR-17/20 target Chek2 increases the recruitment of HuR to c-MYC transcripts, resulting in the inhibition of c-MYC translation and thus interfering with in vivo tumor growth. Hence, in established lymphomas, miR-17-19b fine-tunes c-MYC activity through a tight control of its function and expression, ultimately ensuring cancer cell homeostasis. Our data highlight the plasticity of miRNA function, reflecting changes in the mRNA landscape and 3’ UTR shortening at different stages of tumorigenesis.