Multiple studies have established that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the initiation and progression of cancer. Notably, miR-155 is one of the most overexpressed miRNAs in several solid and hematological malignancies. Ectopic miR-155 expression in mice B cells (Eμ-miR-155 transgenic mice) has been shown to induce pre-B-cell proliferation followed by high-grade lymphoma/leukemia. Loss of miR-155 in mice resulted in impaired immunity due to defective T-cell-mediated immune response. Here we provide a mechanistic insight into miR-155-induced leukemogenesis in the Eμ-miR-155 mouse model through genome-wide transcriptome analysis of naïve B cells and target studies. We found that a key transcriptional repressor and proto-oncogene, Bcl6 is significantly down-regulated in Eμ-miR-155 mice. The reduction of Bcl6 subsequently leads to de-repression of some of the known Bcl6 targets like inhibitor of differentiation (Id2), interleukin-6 (IL6), cMyc, Cyclin D1, and Mip1α/ccl3, all of which promote cell survival and proliferation. We show that Bcl6 is indirectly regulated by miR-155 through Mxd1/Mad1 up-regulation. Interestingly, we found that miR-155 directly targets HDAC4, a corepressor partner of BCL6. Furthermore, ectopic expression of HDAC4 in human-activated B-cell-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cells results in reduced miR-155-induced proliferation, clonogenic potential, and increased apoptosis. Meta-analysis of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patient microarray data showed that miR-155 expression is inversely correlated with Bcl6 and Hdac4. Hence this study provides a better understanding of how miR-155 causes disruption of the BCL6 transcriptional machinery that leads to up-regulation of the survival and proliferation genes in miR-155-induced leukemias.NfκB | Ingenuity Pathway Analysis M icroRNAs (miRNAs) are 18-24-nucleotide-long noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression in many cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, and development. Recent studies have established that expression of miRNAs is widely altered in a variety of cancers and miR-155 is one of the most frequently overexpressed miRNAs in various solid and hematological malignancies (1). miR-155 is highly upregulated in Hodgkin, primary mediastinal, and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) (2, 3) and is almost absent or significantly down-regulated in primary cases of Burkitt lymphoma (4). Overexpression of bic, host mRNA of miR-155, caused increased incidence of leukemia and a decrease in latency of lymphoma development in chickens with elevated levels of MYC (5). Overexpression of miR-155 in mice B cells (Eμ-miR-155) has been shown to cause pre-B-cell leukemia/high-grade lymphoma (6), whereas deletion of bic/miR-155 in mice has been attributed to immunodeficiency and impaired T-cell-dependent antibody response (7,8). Additionally, sustained miR-155 expression in stem cell progenitors induced a myeloproliferative disease in transplanted mice (9). Despite the availability of multiple animal models and a ...