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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, RESULTS. Meshes: Animals, Biomarkers, Blotting, Western, Casein Kinase I, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Movement, Cell Nucleus, Cell Proliferation, Cells, Cultured, Cytoplasm, Embryo, Mammalian, Fibroblasts, Galectin 3, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Mice, Mice, Knockout, MicroRNAs, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Phosphorylation, Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras), RNA, Messenger, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Signal Transduction, Transcription, Genetic.
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Does galectin-3 mediate cross-talk between K-Ras and Let-7c tumor suppressor microRNA? Context: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) and active (GTP-bound) K-Ras contribute to the malignant phenotype of many human tumors by increasing the rate of cell proliferation, survival, and migration. These Gal-3-mediated effects result from a selective binding to K-Ras.GTP, causing increased nanoclustering in the cell membrane and leading to robust Ras signaling. Regulation of the interactions between Gal-3 and active K-Ras is not fully understood. To gain a better understanding of what regulates the critical interactions between these two proteins, we examined the role of Gal-3 in the regulation of K-Ras by using Gal-3-knockout mouse embryonic-fibroblasts (Gal-3-/- MEFs) and/or Gal-3/Gal-1 double-knockout MEFs. We found that knockout of Gal-3 induced strong downregulation (∼60%) of K-Ras and K-Ras.GTP. The downregulation was somewhat more marked in the double-knockout MEFs, in which we also detected robust inhibition(∼50%) of ERK and Akt activation. These additional effects are probably attributable to inhibition of the weak interactions of K-Ras.GTP with Gal-1. Re-expression of Gal-3 reversed the phenotype of the Gal-3-/- MEFs and dramatically reduced the disappearance of K-Ras in the presence of cycloheximide to the levels seen in wild-type MEFs. Furthermore, phosphorylation of Gal-3 by casein kinase-1 (CK-1) induced translocation of Gal-3 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and the plasma membrane, leading to K-Ras stabilization accompanied by downregulation of the tumor suppressor miRNA let-7c, known to negatively control K-Ras transcription.
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Our results suggest a novel cross-talk between Gal-3-mediated downregulation of let 7c microRNA (which in turn negatively regulates K-Ras transcription) and elucidates the association among Gal-3 let-7c and K-Ras transcription/translation, cellular compartmentalization and activity. Final Decision: yes