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.