Cellular retinoic acid binding protein 2 (CRABP2) inhibits tumor growth by two distinct mechanisms. Homo sapiens

CRABP2 potently suppresses carcinoma cell growth, yet the mechanism(s) that underlie this activity remain incompletely understood. Two distinct functions are known for CRABP2: 1) the classical function of this protein is to directly deliver retinoic acid (RA) to the nuclear retinoic-acid receptorthereby activate gene expression, and 2) in the absence of RA, CRABP2 directly binds to the RNA-binding and stabilizing protein, HuR, and markedly strengthens its interactions with target mRNAs. We used microarray experiments to elucidated genes regulated by HuR and/or CRABP2 in the absence of retinoic acid. Overall design: Two experiments were preformed: 1) Transcriptome profiles of MCF-7 cells overexpresssing shHuR were compared to control cells, both in the absence of retinoic acid. 2) Transcriptome profiles of MCF-7 cells overexpresssing shCRABP2 were compared to control cells, both in the absence of retinoic acid.