Repression of the miR‐17‐92 cluster by p53 has an important function in hypoxia‐induced apoptosis

We here report that miR‐17‐92 cluster is a novel target for p53‐mediated transcriptional repression under hypoxia. We found the expression levels of miR‐17‐92 cluster were reduced in hypoxia‐treated cells containing wild‐type p53, but were unchanged in hypoxia‐treated p53‐deficient cells. The repression of miR‐17‐92 cluster under hypoxia is independent of c‐Myc. Luciferase reporter assays mapped the region responding to p53‐mediated repression to a p53‐binding site in the proximal region of the miR‐17‐92 promoter. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), Re‐ChIP and gel retardation assays revealed that the binding sites for p53‐ and the TATA‐binding protein (TBP) overlap within the miR‐17‐92 promoter; these proteins were found to compete for binding. Finally, we show that pri‐miR‐17‐92 expression correlated well with p53 status in colorectal carcinomas. Over‐express miR‐17‐92 cluster markedly inhibits hypoxia‐induced apoptosis, whereas blocked miR‐17‐5p and miR‐20a sensitize the cells to hypoxia‐induced apoptosis. These data indicated that p53‐mediated repression of miR‐17‐92 expression likely has an important function in hypoxia‐induced apoptosis, and thus further our understanding of the tumour suppressive function of p53.