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Abstract: let-7 microRNA (miRNA) is implicated in various biological processes, and its downregulation essentially linked to human malignancy. Regulation of gene expression of the let-7 family is critically linked to RNA-binding proteins. For instance, Lin28B and its paralog, Lin28A, inhibit the pre-let-7 precursor from being processed to mature miRNA by recruiting terminal uridyltransferase, TUT4, which adds oligomeric U at the 3′ end, suggesting that deregulation of Lin28B, together with Lin28A, may alter various biological processes through modulation of let-7 expression. Here, we showed that the Lin28B protein level is regulated via ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation, and identified the ubiquitin ligase as human TRIM-NHL domain-containing TRIM71. In cells, TRIM71 negatively regulates Lin28B protein stability by catalyzing polyubiquitination. Compared with its paralog, Lin28A, a C-terminal unique ~50 amino acid stretch of Lin28B is essential for TRIM71 interactions and subsequent polyubiquitination. Moreover, the N-terminal RING finger motif of TRIM71 is critical for protein–protein interactions and polyubiquitination of Lin28B, and consequent let-7 expression. Consistent with the let-7 stimulatory role of TRIM71 via Lin28B polyubiquitination, specific knockdown of TRIM71 led to downregulation of let-7 expression. Expression of one of the known let-7 targets, HMGA2, was derepressed after knockdown of TRIM71. We additionally showed that enhanced expression of let-7 is part of a feedback loop that targets TRIM71 3′UTR, which contains two conserved let-7 target sites. Our findings collectively reveal critical aspects of regulatory complexity of let-7 biogenesis at the posttranscriptional level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: The standard chemoradiation therapy currently used for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) patients does not reflect the biological heterogeneity of this disease, and there is an increasing need for the development of biomarkers that can help guide the individualized treatment regimens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of the integration pattern of human papillomavirus (HPV) in LACC patients.Methods and Materials: The HPV integration pattern was determined by in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction, and the tumors were classified as the episomal pattern (group A), as the single-copy integrated or multicopy tandem repetition-integrated pattern (group B), or as undetectable HPV (group C). Ninety-eight LACC patients were included in a development dataset and 106 independent patients in a validation dataset. The multivariate Cox model was used to examine the effect of the HPV integration pattern on disease-free survival (DFS). The model was validated internally by the leave-one-out cross-validation method and externally by an independent dataset.Results: After adjustment for significant prognostic factors (stage, histologic grade, histologic type, and tumor size), the HPV integration pattern was significantly associated with DFS in the development (P=.032) and validation (P=.023) datasets. Survival was worst in group C and best in group A. The multivariate model with HPV integration pattern as an explanatory variable showed good discrimination ability and could separate patients with different risk profiles.Conclusions: This study identified the HPV integration pattern, as determined by in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction, as a strong prognostic biomarker for DFS in LACC patients treated by chemoradiation therapy. This finding may open the possibility of personalized treatment of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]