Abstract
microRNAs have been shown to have oncogenic or tumor suppressor function in glioblastoma (GBM). It has been postulated that there exists an extensive microRNA-mediated RNA-RNA interaction network in GBMs utilizing systems biology approach supporting a competitive endogenous RNA (ce-RNA). MicroRNAs have functional relevance in the regulation of critical genes and pathways implicated in the maintenance of glioma stem cell (GSC) properties. To address this, we have applied biochemical methods to establish direct miRNA-mRNA interaction network relevant and specific to GSCs. To avoid inclusion of the inherent bias of miRNA-target prediction algorithms, we have generated an unbiased global miRNA mediated RNA-RNA interactome by performing RNA-sequencing all RNA species (small and large RNAs) isolated from AGO2-microRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC) of GSCs and normal human neural stem cells (hNSCs). Additionally, we have also established this interactome after exposure of GSCs and normal hNSCs to hypoxia, a key tumor micro-environmental factor that is known to be pivotal in generating GBM heterogeneity. In all, three independent GSC lines and one NSC line were profiled, and results compared with each other. miRNA-mRNA interaction nodes were determined by RNA read counts from RNA-seq data and combinations of miRNA target prediction softwares. The rank order list of miRNA-mRNA interaction nodes generated from RNA sequence reads reveals that enrichment of specific RNAs in functional AGO2-miRISC is not a direct function of their relative abundance in cells, thus this biochemically generated interactome is distinct from that generated by bioinformatics tools. Our data shows that MYC as one of the key networks targetted by microRNAs specifically in GSCs under hypoxic conditions. We demonstrate that scope and influence of GSC specific miRNA-mRNA network and specific nodes of this interactome varies with hypoxia and tumor region in GBMs