MiRNA expression data from SOX2 knock-out 2102Ep and NTera-2 human embryonal carcinoma cell lines

SOX2 is an oncogene and a core pluripotency transcription factor. SOX2 has multiple roles in various malignancies, in the maintenance of pluripotency and during various stages of embryonic development. Human embryonal carcinoma cells express SOX2 and the loss of this results in their differentiation. We silenced SOX2 in two human embryonal carcinoma cell lines and measured the differential expression of 754 unique mature miRNAs. This revealed the deregulation of many oncomiRs, tumour suppressor miRNAs and developmental miRNAs, including those belonging to the C19MC cluster. A specific and validated siRNA against SOX2 was chemically transfected in undifferentiated 2102Ep and NTera-2 embryonal carcinoma cell lines. After three days of incubation under normal growth conditions we used Applied Biosystems TaqMan Low Density Arrays A/B cards to measure mature miRNA expression in three biological replicates of each cell line which we compared to miRNA expression in identical samples transfected with a non-targeting, scrambled control siRNA. SOX2 silencing was validated using qRT-PCR and Western blot prior to whole-genome expression analysis.