MicroRNA expression profiling in human tumor cell lines treated with interferon-alpha-2a

MicroRNAs are positive and negative regulators of eukaryotic gene expression that modulate transcript abundance by specific binding to sequence motifs located prevalently in the 3’ untranslated regions (3’-UTR) of target messenger RNAs (mRNA). Interferon-alpha-2a (IFNα) induces a large set of protein-coding genes mediating anti-proliferative and antiviral responses. Here we use a global microarray-based microRNA detection platform to identify genes that are induced by IFNα in hepatoma- or melanoma-derived human tumor cell lines. Despite the enormous differences in expression levels between these models, we were able to identify microRNAs that are upregulated by IFNα in both lines, suggesting the possibility that interferon-regulated microRNAs (IRmiRs) are involved in the transcriptional repression of mRNA relevant to cytokine responses. Total RNA obtained from a melanoma cell line and a hepatoma cell line grown in triplicates treated with 1000 U / mL interferon alpha2a for 4 or 24 hours compared to mock-treated cell cultures.