DNA methylation-mediated epigenetic silencing of miR-720 contributes to leukemogenesis in acute myeloid leukemia

To investigate the expression level and regulation mechanism of miR-720 as well as the association of miR-720 expression with leukemia biological characteristics. Expression and promoter methylation of miR-720 were determined by quantitive PCR and pyrosequencing in 38 patients with AML and 20 normal controls. Lentivirous-mediated miR-702 overexpression was constructed in AML cell line kasumi-1. The cell proliferation, apoptosis, cycle, colony formation, migration and P53-mediated apoptosis pathway were determined. AML patients showed significantly lower miR-720 expression compared with normal controls (0.69±0.09 vs 3.00±0.46, P