A comprehensive analysis of GATA-1-regulated miRNAs reveals miR-23a to be a positive modulator of erythropoiesis

Yong Zhu, Dongsheng Wang, Fang Wang, Tingting Li, Lei Dong, Huiwen Liu, Yanni Ma, Fengbing Jiang, Haixin Yin, Wenting Yan, Min Luo, Zhong Tang, Guoyuan Zhang, Qiang Wang, Junwu Zhang, Jingguo Zhou* and Jia Yu*

Nucleic Acids Research. 2013 Apr;41(7):4129-43. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkt093. Epub 2013 Feb 17.

miRNAs play important roles in many biological processes, including erythropoiesis. Although several miRNAs regulate erythroid differentiation, how the key erythroid regulator, GATA-1, directly orchestrates differentiation through miRNA pathways remains unclear. In this study, we identified miR-23a as a key regulator of erythropoiesis, which was upregulated both during erythroid differentiation and in GATA-1 gain-of-function experiments, as determined by miRNA expression profile analysis. In primary human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells, miR-23a increased in a GATA-1-dependent manner during erythroid differentiation. Gain- or loss-of-function analysis of miR-23a in mice or zebrafish demonstrated that it was essential for normal morphology in terminally differentiated erythroid cells. Furthermore, a protein tyrosine phosphatase, SHP2, was identified as a downstream target of miR-23a that mediated its regulation of erythropoiesis. Taken together, our data identify a key GATA-1-miRNA axis in erythroid differentiation.