R knowledge, down-regulation of miR-200 family rein on the tumor precession was not observed in all breast cancer cell lines. For instance, a study in isogenic mouse breast cancer cells indicatedFigure 5. Venn diagram of ANOVA test Title Loaded From File results from paired and unpaired miRNA expression analysis. ANOVA test on the paired miRNA microarray data analysis resulted in 35 deregulated miRNAs, while ANOVA test on the unpaired analysis showed 98 deregulated miRNAs. There are 10 overlapping miRNAs (miR-1268, mir-130a, miR141, miR-193b, miR-200b, miR-21, miR-320a, miR-370, miR-557 and kshv-mir-K12-3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054213.gPrediction of miRNAs’ Target Genes and Pathway AnalysisWe performed miRNA target prediction as well as their associated pathway analysis, using the three most common algorithms: TargetScan Human 6.0 (http://www.targetscan.org), Diana microT 3.0 (http://diana.cslab.ece.ntua.gr/microT/) and miRanda (http://www.microrna.org/microrna/home.do). Targets were regarded as positive only if they were predicted by at least two algorithms. The ones that were predicted by all three algorithms were bolded. Target gene lists were subjected to pathway analysis using GeneSpring GX and IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) for potential significant pathway analysis (Supplementary data 4). Of the identified pathways, the most significant pathway regulated by miR-21 was the TGF-b pathway. Target prediction results indicate that miR-21 might promote the TGF-b pathway by silencing the inhibitor SMAD7. An activated TGF-b pathway, therefore, can accelerate the generation of mature miR-21 in a feed-forward loop fashion. The TGF-b pathway was reported to have both a tumor promoting and suppressing effect. MiR-21 can debilitate its tumor suppressing branch by silencing MSH2, one of the DNA mismatch repair genes [30].MiR-21 Inhibition in Human Breast CancerMiR-21, one of the most reported miRNAs, is involved in the progression of many cancers. Our study shows during the early stage of breast lesion, miR-21might function as a major force in driving tumor progression, due to its continuously high expression level. TGF-b signaling is well Terlipressin studied for its anti-mitogenic function during the early stages of cancer, but promotes invasion and metastasis in later stages. Activated TGF-b pathway can also induce mature miR-21 expression. In this study, we transfected anti-miR-21 oligos as well as the scrambled oligo mocks into human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and Hs578T. After 48 hours, with 60 ?0 miR-21 knock-down, we observed a significant restoration of MSH2 and SMAD7 mRNA expression (Fig. 6A and 6B). The protein level was increased by ,35 in MCF-7 and ,43 in Hs578T for MSH2; and by ,80 in MCF7 and ,133 in Hs578T for SMAD7 by Western blot analysis (Fig. 6C). These findings indicate that overexpression of miR-21 might activate TGF-b signaling by suppressing SMAD7, which functions as an inhibitory SMAD protein in TGF-b signaling. Silencing TGF-b signaling may in turn induce the expression of tumor suppressor genes, such as MSH2.Deregulated miRNAs in Breast CancerFigure 6. Knockdown of miR-21 restores the expression of SMAD7 and MSH2 in MCF-7 and Hs578T breast cancer cell lines. MCF-7 and Hs578T cells were transfected with miR-21 inhibitor and a negative mock control using the Lipofectamine 2000 kit (Invitrogen). After 48 hrs, miR21 expression level was knocked down by ,10 fold as compared to the mock controls in both MCF-7 (Fig. 6A) and Hs578T (Fig. 6B) ce.R knowledge, down-regulation of miR-200 family rein on the tumor precession was not observed in all breast cancer cell lines. For instance, a study in isogenic mouse breast cancer cells indicatedFigure 5. Venn diagram of ANOVA test results from paired and unpaired miRNA expression analysis. ANOVA test on the paired miRNA microarray data analysis resulted in 35 deregulated miRNAs, while ANOVA test on the unpaired analysis showed 98 deregulated miRNAs. There are 10 overlapping miRNAs (miR-1268, mir-130a, miR141, miR-193b, miR-200b, miR-21, miR-320a, miR-370, miR-557 and kshv-mir-K12-3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054213.gPrediction of miRNAs’ Target Genes and Pathway AnalysisWe performed miRNA target prediction as well as their associated pathway analysis, using the three most common algorithms: TargetScan Human 6.0 (http://www.targetscan.org), Diana microT 3.0 (http://diana.cslab.ece.ntua.gr/microT/) and miRanda (http://www.microrna.org/microrna/home.do). Targets were regarded as positive only if they were predicted by at least two algorithms. The ones that were predicted by all three algorithms were bolded. Target gene lists were subjected to pathway analysis using GeneSpring GX and IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) for potential significant pathway analysis (Supplementary data 4). Of the identified pathways, the most significant pathway regulated by miR-21 was the TGF-b pathway. Target prediction results indicate that miR-21 might promote the TGF-b pathway by silencing the inhibitor SMAD7. An activated TGF-b pathway, therefore, can accelerate the generation of mature miR-21 in a feed-forward loop fashion. The TGF-b pathway was reported to have both a tumor promoting and suppressing effect. MiR-21 can debilitate its tumor suppressing branch by silencing MSH2, one of the DNA mismatch repair genes [30].MiR-21 Inhibition in Human Breast CancerMiR-21, one of the most reported miRNAs, is involved in the progression of many cancers. Our study shows during the early stage of breast lesion, miR-21might function as a major force in driving tumor progression, due to its continuously high expression level. TGF-b signaling is well studied for its anti-mitogenic function during the early stages of cancer, but promotes invasion and metastasis in later stages. Activated TGF-b pathway can also induce mature miR-21 expression. In this study, we transfected anti-miR-21 oligos as well as the scrambled oligo mocks into human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and Hs578T. After 48 hours, with 60 ?0 miR-21 knock-down, we observed a significant restoration of MSH2 and SMAD7 mRNA expression (Fig. 6A and 6B). The protein level was increased by ,35 in MCF-7 and ,43 in Hs578T for MSH2; and by ,80 in MCF7 and ,133 in Hs578T for SMAD7 by Western blot analysis (Fig. 6C). These findings indicate that overexpression of miR-21 might activate TGF-b signaling by suppressing SMAD7, which functions as an inhibitory SMAD protein in TGF-b signaling. Silencing TGF-b signaling may in turn induce the expression of tumor suppressor genes, such as MSH2.Deregulated miRNAs in Breast CancerFigure 6. Knockdown of miR-21 restores the expression of SMAD7 and MSH2 in MCF-7 and Hs578T breast cancer cell lines. MCF-7 and Hs578T cells were transfected with miR-21 inhibitor and a negative mock control using the Lipofectamine 2000 kit (Invitrogen). After 48 hrs, miR21 expression level was knocked down by ,10 fold as compared to the mock controls in both MCF-7 (Fig. 6A) and Hs578T (Fig. 6B) ce.