Methylation Status of SP1 Sites within miR-23a-27a-24-2 Promoter Region Influences Laryngeal Cancer Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis

DNA methylation plays critical roles in regulation of microRNA expression and function. miR-23a-27a-24-2 cluster has various functions and aberrant expression of the cluster is a common event in many cancers. However, whether DNA methylation influences the cluster expression and function is not reported. Here we found a CG-rich region spanning two SP1 sites in the cluster promoter region. The SP1 sites in the cluster were demethylated and methylated in Hep2 cells and HEK293 cells, respectively. Meanwhile, the cluster was significantly upregulated and downregulated in Hep2 cells and HEK293 cells, respectively. The SP1 sites were remethylated and the cluster was significantly downregulated in Hep2 cells into which methyl donor, S-adenosyl-L-methionine, was introduced. Moreover, S-adenosyl-L-methionine significantly increased Hep2 cell viability and repressed Hep2 cell early apoptosis. We also found that construct with two SP1 sites had highest luciferase activity and SP1 specifically bound the gene cluster promoter in vitro. We conclude that demethylated SP1 sites in miR-23a-27a-24-2 cluster upregulate the cluster expression, leading to proliferation promotion and early apoptosis inhibition in laryngeal cancer cells.