A Notch-related microRNA may be a therapeutic target for mycosis fungoides (MF), according to research published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
The Notch pathway has been implicated in the progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, but the mechanisms driving Notch activation has been unclear.
So investigators studied a series of skin samples from patients with MF in tumor phase, focusing on the Notch pathway.
“The purpose of this project has been to research the state of the Notch pathway in a series of samples from patients with mycosis fungoides and compare the results to a control group to discover if Notch activation in tumors is influenced by epigenetic modifications,” said Fernando Gallardo, MD, of Hospital del Mar Investigacions Mèdiques in Barcelona, Spain.
So he and his colleagues looked at methylation patterns in several components of the Notch pathway and confirmed that Notch1 was activated in samples from patients with MF.
They then identified a microRNA, miR-200C, that was epigenetically repressed in the samples. Further investigation revealed that this repression leads to the activation of the Notch pathway.
“The restoration of miR-200C expression, silenced in the tumor cells, could represent a potential therapeutic target for this subtype of lymphomas,” Dr Gallardo concluded.
