Dichotomous role of miR193b-3p in diabetic foot ulcers maintains inhibition

of healing and suppression of tumor formation

 

Jelena Marjanovic, Horacio A. Ramirez Ivan Jozic, Rivka C. Stone, Tongyu C. Wikramanayake, Cheyanne R. Head, Beatriz Abdo Abujamra, Nkemcho Ojeh, Robert S. Kirsner Hadar Lev-Tov, Irena Pastar, Marjana Tomic-Cani

 

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are poorly healing wounds characterized by a hyperproliferative microenvironment with overexpression of c-myc and activation of the β-catenin signaling pathway. However, despite these cancer-like features, DFUs rarely undergo malignant transformation. Here, Marjanovic and colleagues identified the tumor suppressor miR193b-3p as being overexpressed in DFUs but not acute wounds, venous leg ulcers, or cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas. In addition to suppressing drivers of tumor formation, miR193b-3p was found to inhibit keratinocyte migration and wound reepithelialization, even in the presence of promigratory microRNAs. These findings may explain why DFUs heal poorly but do not undergo malignant transformation … read more