Effect of 5-Fluorouracil on translational regulation in colorectal cancer cells
5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is an anti-metabolite intensely used in chemotherapeutic treatments in various cancers. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of this anti-cancer agent still remain to be determined. Because 5-FU is incorporated within all classes of RNA, knowledge of the different levels of gene expression regulation affected by 5-FU will help to decipher its mode of action. We hypothesized that the translational control is altered by 5-FU treatment as a consequence of disrupted RNA metabolism. In this study, the colorectal cancer cell line HCT116 has been treated or not by different doses of 5-FU for different periods of time to determine the time and dose window that induces modifications of cell behavior without leading to an extensive cell death. Translational reprogramming was then analyzed during this time and dose window. For this, cytoplasmic fractions were purified and separated through sucrose gradients to distinguish the actively translated mRNAs that are associated with polysomes from the inactive mRNAs associated with monosomes or free mRNAs. A microarray analysis was then performed to identify the mRNAs presented in monosome and polysome fractions with and without treatment. This polysome profiling approach reveals that 5-FU treatment did not turn-off the global translation efficiency, but rather modulates translation efficiency of specific mRNAs. Secondly, more than 640 mRNAs were found to be up-translated following 5-FU treatment. Finally, we have demonstrated that 5-FU induced up-regulation of HIVEP2 by a molecular mechanism involving an action of 5-FU on miR-155