MicroRNA142-3p promotes tumor-initiating and radioresistant properties in malignant pediatric brain tumors

Primary central nervous system (CNS) atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is an extremely malignant pediatric brain tumor observed in infancy and childhood. It has been reported that a subpopulation of CD133⁺ cells isolated from ATRT tumors present with cancer stem-like and radioresistant properties. However, the exact biomolecular mechanisms of ATRT or CD133-positive ATRT (ATRT-CD133⁺) cells are still unclear. We have previously shown that ATRT-CD133⁺ cells have pluripotent differentiation ability and the capability of malignant cells to be highly resistant to ionizing radiation (IR). By using microRNA array and quantitative RT-PCR in this study, we showed that expression of miR142-3p was lower in ATRT-CD133⁺ cells than in ATRT-CD133^- cells. miR142-3p overexpression significantly inhibited the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of ATRT-CD133⁺ cells. On the contrary, silencing of endogenous miR142-3p dramatically increased the tumor-initiating and stem-like cell capacities in ATRT cells or ATRT-CD133^- cells and further promoted the mesenchymal transitional and radioresistant properties of ATRT cells. Most importantly, therapeutic delivery of miR142-3p in ATRT cells effectively reduced its lethality by blocking tumor growth, repressing invasiveness, increasing radiosensitivity, and prolonging survival time in orthotropic-transplanted immunocompromised mice. These results demonstrate the prospect of developing novel miRNA-based strategies to block the stem-like and radioresistant properties of malignant pediatric brain cancer stem cells.