Is miR-29 an oncogene or tumor suppressor in CLL?

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the Western world. CLL occurs in two forms, aggressive and indolent. Aggressive CLL is characterized by high ZAP-70 expression and unmutated IgH V(H); indolent CLL shows low ZAP-70 expression and mutated IgH V(H). We recently found that miR-29 is upregulated in indolent human B-CLL, compared to aggressive B-CLL and normal CD19+ B-cells. To determine the role of miR-29 in CLL, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing miR-29 in mouse B-cells. Recently we reported that miR-29 transgenic mice develop indolent CLL phenotype. Interestingly, our previous findings suggest that miR-29 targets expression of TCL1, a critical oncogene in aggressive CLL, indicating that miR-29 might function as a tumor suppressor in CLL. Here we discuss these results and provide additional insights into function of miR-29 in CLL.