Effects of exercise on microRNA expression in young males peripheral blood mononuclear cells

MicroRNAs are increasingly seen as targets of drug discovery because they influence gene function acting both to silence and subtly modulate protein translation. Little is known about effects of dynamic physiological states on microRNA regulation in humans. We hypothesized that microRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) would be affected by brief exercise. Twelve young men performed brief bouts of heavy exercise. PBMC microRNA was analyzed before and immediately after exercise using the Agilent Human microRNA V2 Microarray. Exercise altered expression level of 34 microRNAs (FDR < 0.05). Many of them play roles in inflammatory processes (e.g., miR-125b[↓], down-regulated by proinflammatory factor LPS; and miR-132[↑], 125b[↓] and let-7e[↓] involved inTLR4 signaling). Using previous exercise data in PBMCs, we linked the microRNA changes to specific gene pathways. This analysis identified 12 pathways including the TGF-β and MAPK signaling. We also compared exercise-associated microRNA changes in PBMCs with the exercise-associated microRNAs previously identified in neutrophils. Nine microRNAs were affected in both PBMCs and neutrophils, but only six changed in the same direction. A commonly occurring physiologic perturbation, brief heavy exercise, changes microRNA profiles in PBMCs, many of which are related to inflammatory processes. The pattern of change suggests that exercise differentially influences microRNAs in leukocyte subtypes.     

MiR-522 contributes to cell proliferation of human glioblastoma cells by suppressing PHLPP1 expression

Previous studies have shown that microRNAs play essential roles in cancer growth and progression. Although a number of microRNAs were differentially expressed in glioblastoma (GBM). In this study, we evaluated the miR-522s role in cell proliferation in GBM. Expression of miR-522 is markedly upregulated in GBM tissues and GBM cells compared with the matched non-tumor adjacent brain tissues (TAT) and normal human astrocytes (NHAs). In functional assays, miR-522 promoted GBM cell proliferation, which could be reversed by inhibitor of miR-522. We further identified PH domain leucine-rich repeats protein phosphatase-1 (PHLPP1) as a putative target of miR-522, which is likely a main contributor to the promotion of tumor cell growth observed in our assays. Our results demonstrated that miR-522 promoted tumor cell proliferation and hence may represent a novel therapeutically relevant cellular target to treatment of GBM patients.     

肝癌转移和预后相关的miRNA

microRNA(miRNA)是近年来发现的一类长度约为20～25个核苷酸的具有转录后调节功能的非编码单链的小分子RNA.研究发现miR-21、miR-34a、miR-9、miR-151与肝癌转移密切相关,而miR-122、miR-221和miR-125等影响肝癌预后.     

MicroRNA-199a-3p is downregulated in human osteosarcoma and regulates cell proliferation and migration

microRNAs (miRNA, miR) play an important role in cancer cell growth and migration; however, the potential roles of miRNAs in osteosarcoma remain largely uncharacterized. By applying a miRNA microarray platform and unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis, we found that several miRNAs have altered expression levels in osteosarcoma cell lines and tumor tissues when compared with normal human osteoblasts. Three miRNAs, miR-199a-3p, miR-127-3p, and miR-376c, were significantly decreased in osteosarcoma cell lines, whereas miR-151-3p and miR-191 were increased in osteosarcoma cell lines in comparison with osteoblasts. Transfection of precursor miR-199a-3p into osteosarcoma cell lines significantly decreased cell growth and migration, thus indicating that the inhibition effect is associated with an increase in the G(1)-phase and a decrease of the S-phase cell population. In addition, we observed decreased mTOR and Stat3 expression in miR-199a-3p transfected cells. This study provides new insights for miRNAs in osteosarcoma and suggests that miR-199a-3p may play a functional role in osteosarcoma cell growth and proliferation. Restoring miR-199a-3p's function may provide therapeutic benefits in osteosarcoma.     

miR-195 inhibits tumor growth and angiogenesis through modulating IRS1 in breast cancer

Angiogenesis has been found as an attractive target for drug therapy as it is necessary for tumor growth. Accumulating evidences show that microRNAs (miRNAs), which are a group of highly conserved, single-stranded, short non-coding RNAs, play important roles through directly targeting angiogenic factors and protein kinases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of miR-195 in breast cancer development and angiogenesis through targeting IRS1. We show that miR-195 is inversely related with Insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) in both breast cancer cells and breast cancer tissues. Induction of miR-195 could suppress IRS1 protein expression through binding to its 3′UTR regions either by transfection with miR-195 oligo or by infection with lentivirus encoding miR-195 gene. Moreover, re-expression of IRS1 reverses miR-195-mediated repression of tumor cell growth and miR-195 inhibits tumor angiogenesis through suppressing IRS1-VEGF axis. These data suggest that miR-195 mimics are potential therapeutic agents for breast cancer diagnose.     

Update on the endocannabinoid-mediated regulation of gelatinase release in arterial wall physiology and atherosclerotic pathophysiology

Endocannabinoids are endogenous bioactive lipids ubiquitously distributed in several tissues (e.g., brain, adipose tissue, liver, heart and arterial vessels), which play a crucial role in atherosclerosis. Endocannabinoids have been shown to promote cell homeostasis and modulate inflammatory bioactivities mainly via the binding to transmembrane receptors (called cannabinoid type 1 and cannabinoid type 2 receptors, respectively). Although other cannabinoid receptors have been recently identified and shown to play a crucial role in cardiovascular pathophysiology, so far, the pharmacological targeting of both cannabinoid type 1 and cannabinoid type 2 receptors has been described as a promising therapeutic target in atherogenesis and associated inflammatory processes. In particular, endocannabinoids have been shown to modulate the release and activation of matrix degrading enzymes (i.e., matrix metalloproteinases [MMPs]) increasing intraplaque vulnerability. In this article the authors describe the pivotal regulatory activity of the endocannabinoid system on gelatinase (MMP-2 and -9) bioactivity in the arterial wall physiology and pathophysiology.     

Role for miR-204 in human pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by enhanced proliferation and reduced apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Because microRNAs have been recently implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis, we hypothesized that these regulatory molecules might be implicated in the etiology of PAH. In this study, we show that miR-204 expression in PASMCs is down-regulated in both human and rodent PAH. miR-204 down-regulation correlates with PAH severity and accounts for the proliferative and antiapoptotic phenotypes of PAH-PASMCs. STAT3 activation suppresses miR-204 expression, and miR-204 directly targets SHP2 expression, thereby SHP2 up-regulation, by miR-204 down-regulation, activates the Src kinase and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). STAT3 also directly induces NFATc2 expression. NFAT and SHP2 were needed to sustain PAH-PASMC proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. Finally, delivery of synthetic miR-204 to the lungs of animals with PAH significantly reduced disease severity. This study uncovers a new regulatory pathway involving miR-204 that is critical to the etiology of PAH and indicates that reestablishing miR-204 expression should be explored as a potential new therapy for this disease.     

Thromboangiitis obliterans plasma-derived exosomal miR-223-5p inhibits cell viability and promotes cell apoptosis of human vascular smooth muscle cells by targeting VCAM1

Background: Exosomes-encapsulated microRNAs (miRNAs) have been established to be implicated in the pathogenesis of different diseases. Nevertheless, circulating exosomal miRNAs of thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the effects of exosomal miRNAs associated with TAO on human vascular smooth muscle cells (HVSMCs).Methods: The exosomes were isolated from the plasma of TAO patients and normal controls and then were sent for small RNA sequencing. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) were identified by bioinformatics analysis and were confirmed by RT-qPCR. After that, PKH67 staining was used to label exosomes and co-cultured with HVSMCs. Cell viability and apoptosis were, respectively, tested by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. Finally, dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the downstream targets of miR-223-5p.Results: A total of 39 DE-miRNAs were identified between TAO patients and normal controls, of which, miR-223-5p was one of the most significantly up-regulated miRNAs. TAO plasma-derived exosomes or miR-223-5p mimics inhibited cell viability of HVSMCs and promoted cell apoptosis. The pro-apoptotic effect of TAO plasma-derived exosomes was alleviated by miR-223-5p inhibitor. Additionally, the expressions of VCAM1 and IGF1R were down-regulated by exosomes and miR-223-5p mimics, and were abrogated by miR-223-5p inhibitor. Dual-luciferase report showed that VCAM1 was the target of miR-223-5p.Conclusions: Our findings imply that circulating exosomal miR-223-5p may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of TAO, and provide a basis for miR-6515-5p/VCAM1 as novel therapeutic targets and pathways for TAO treatment.     

MicroRNAs contribute to compensatory β cell expansion during pregnancy and obesity

Pregnancy and obesity are frequently associated with diminished insulin sensitivity, which is normally compensated for by an expansion of the functional β cell mass that prevents chronic hyperglycemia and development of diabetes mellitus. The molecular basis underlying compensatory β cell mass expansion is largely unknown. We found in rodents that β cell mass expansion during pregnancy and obesity is associated with changes in the expression of several islet microRNAs, including miR-338-3p. In isolated pancreatic islets, we recapitulated the decreased miR-338-3p level observed in gestation and obesity by activating the G protein–coupled estrogen receptor GPR30 and the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor. Blockade of miR-338-3p in β cells using specific anti-miR molecules mimicked gene expression changes occurring during β cell mass expansion and resulted in increased proliferation and improved survival both in vitro and in vivo. These findings point to a major role for miR-338-3p in compensatory β cell mass expansion occurring under different insulin resistance states.     

KITENIN-targeting MicroRNA-124 Suppresses Colorectal Cancer Cell Motility and Tumorigenesis

MicroRNAs are increasingly implicated in the modulation of the progression of various cancers. We previously observed that KAI1 C-terminal interacting tetraspanin (KITENIN) is highly expressed in sporadic human colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and hence the functional KITENIN complex acts to promote progression of CRC. However, it remains unknown that microRNAs target KITENIN and whether KITENIN-targeting microRNAs modulate CRC cell motility and colorectal tumorigenesis. Here, through bioinformatic analyses and functional studies, we showed that miR-124, miR-27a, and miR-30b negatively regulate KITENIN expression and suppress the migration and invasion of several CRC cell lines via modulation of KITENIN expression. Through in vitro and in vivo induction of mature microRNAs using a tetracycline-inducible system, miR-124 was found to effectively inhibit the invasion of CT-26 colon adenocarcinoma cells and tumor growth in a syngeneic mouse xenograft model. Constitutive overexpression of precursor miR-124 in CT-26 cells suppressed in vivo tumorigenicity and resulted in decreased expression of KITENIN as well as that of MYH9 and SOX9, which are targets of miR-124. Thus, our findings identify that KITENIN-targeting miR-124, miR-27a, and miR-30b function as endogenous inhibitors of CRC cell motility and demonstrate that miR-124 among KITENIN-targeting microRNAs plays a suppressor role in colorectal tumorigenesis.     

Resistance may not be futile: microRNA biomarkers for chemoresistance and potential therapeutics

Chemoresistance to many commercially available cancer therapeutic drugs is a common occurrence and contributes to cancer mortality as it often leads to disease progression. There have been a number of studies evaluating the mechanisms of resistance and the biological factors involved. microRNAs have recently been identified as playing a role in the regulation of key genes implicated as cancer therapeutic targets or in mechanisms of chemoresistance including EGFR, MDR1, PTEN, Bak1, and PDCD4 among others. This article briefly reviews chemoresistance mechanisms, discusses how microRNAs can play a role in those mechanisms, and summarizes current research involving microRNAs as both regulators of key target genes for chemoresistance and biomarkers for treatment response. It is clear from the accumulating literature that microRNAs can play an important role in chemoresistance and hold much promise for the development of targeted therapies and personalized medicine. This review brings together much of this new research as a starting point for identifying key areas of interest and potentials for future study.     

K562细胞及其耐药细胞株K562/A02细胞白血病耐药相关microRNA筛选

目的 通过检测慢性粒细胞白血病急变细胞系K562及其阿霉素耐药株K562/A02的微小RNA(microRNA、miR)表达差异,探讨microRNA与白血病化疗耐药的关系.方法 MTT法检测K562/A02及其亲本细胞系K562的耐药性能;流式细胞术检测K562与K562/A02细胞的P-gp表达;运用microRNA芯片技术筛查K562与K562/A02细胞之间差异表达的microRNA,随后用实时荧光定量RT-PCR方法进一步证实.结果 阿霉素耐药株K562/A02相对于其亲本细胞系K562对阿霉素的耐药倍数为180倍;K562细胞P-gp的表达率为0.2%,K562/A02细胞P-gp的表达率为86%;microRNA芯片结果显示K562/A02与K562细胞之间有22种microRNA表达存在显著的差异(P<0.01),表达差异在2倍以上的有9种,其中miR-221、miR-155、miR-451在K562/A02细胞表达上调,而miR-98、miR-181a、let-7f、miR-424、let-7g和miR-563则表达下调.实时荧光定量RT-PCR进一步证实了上述结果,并显示miR-451、miR-155、miR-221、let-7f、miR-424在两种细胞中表达差异显著.结论 K562/A02与K562细胞存在microRNA表达差异,其中miR-451、miR-155和miR-221在K562/A02中表达显著上调,而let-7f、miR-424则显著下调,提示microRNA可能参与白血病耐药形成,差异表达的microRNA可能为逆转白血病耐药提供新的作用靶点.     

Expression profile of plasma microRNAs in nonsyndromic cleft lip and their clinical significance as biomarkers

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the expression profile of plasma microRNAs in nonsyndromic cleft lip (NSCL) and their clinical significance as biomarkers.MethodsAgilent human miRNA microarray chips were used to analyze three NSCL plasma samples (mixed as CL group) and three normal plasma samples (mixed as Control group). Six selected plasma miRNAs were validated using qRT-PCR between another 13 CL and 11 healthy children. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied for three elevated miRNAs, miR-16-2-3p, miR-365a-3p and miR-877-5p. Their target genes were further assessed using gene ontology and pathway analysis.ResultsThe plasma miRNA differentially expressed (fold change ≥2) amounted to 305. In particular, it had been validated that miR-16-2-3p, miR-365a-3p and miR-877-5p were elevated in NSCL plasma samples. ROC curve analysis revealed that each microRNA was able to significantly discriminate NSCL subjects from normal controls. Gene ontology and pathway analysis revealed that many processes over-represented in CL are related to system development process, regulation of nitrogen compound metabolic process, FoxO signaling pathway and the ErbB signaling pathway.ConclusionOur study demonstrated that plasma miR-16-2-3p, miR-365a-3p and miR-877-5p might become biomarkers to diagnose NSCL and dysregulation of these miRNAs might be involved in the progression of NSCL.     

K562细胞及其耐药细胞株K562/A02细胞白血病耐药相关microRNA筛选

目的 通过检测慢性粒细胞白血病急变细胞系K562及其阿霉素耐药株K562/A02的微小RNA(microRNA、miR)表达差异,探讨microRNA与白血病化疗耐药的关系.方法 MTT法检测K562/A02及其亲本细胞系K562的耐药性能;流式细胞术检测K562与K562/A02细胞的P-gp表达;运用microRNA芯片技术筛查K562与K562/A02细胞之间差异表达的microRNA,随后用实时荧光定量RT-PCR方法进一步证实.结果 阿霉素耐药株K562/A02相对于其亲本细胞系K562对阿霉素的耐药倍数为180倍;K562细胞P-gp的表达率为0.2%,K562/A02细胞P-gp的表达率为86%;microRNA芯片结果显示K562/A02与K562细胞之间有22种microRNA表达存在显著的差异(P<0.01),表达差异在2倍以上的有9种,其中miR-221、miR-155、miR-451在K562/A02细胞表达上调,而miR-98、miR-181a、let-7f、miR-424、let-7g和miR-563则表达下调.实时荧光定量RT-PCR进一步证实了上述结果,并显示miR-451、miR-155、miR-221、let-7f、miR-424在两种细胞中表达差异显著.结论 K562/A02与K562细胞存在microRNA表达差异,其中miR-451、miR-155和miR-221在K562/A02中表达显著上调,而let-7f、miR-424则显著下调,提示microRNA可能参与白血病耐药形成,差异表达的microRNA可能为逆转白血病耐药提供新的作用靶点.     

K562细胞及其耐药细胞株K562/A02细胞白血病耐药相关microRNA筛选

目的 通过检测慢性粒细胞白血病急变细胞系K562及其阿霉素耐药株K562/A02的微小RNA(microRNA、miR)表达差异,探讨microRNA与白血病化疗耐药的关系.方法 MTT法检测K562/A02及其亲本细胞系K562的耐药性能;流式细胞术检测K562与K562/A02细胞的P-gp表达;运用microRNA芯片技术筛查K562与K562/A02细胞之间差异表达的microRNA,随后用实时荧光定量RT-PCR方法进一步证实.结果 阿霉素耐药株K562/A02相对于其亲本细胞系K562对阿霉素的耐药倍数为180倍;K562细胞P-gp的表达率为0.2%,K562/A02细胞P-gp的表达率为86%;microRNA芯片结果显示K562/A02与K562细胞之间有22种microRNA表达存在显著的差异(P<0.01),表达差异在2倍以上的有9种,其中miR-221、miR-155、miR-451在K562/A02细胞表达上调,而miR-98、miR-181a、let-7f、miR-424、let-7g和miR-563则表达下调.实时荧光定量RT-PCR进一步证实了上述结果,并显示miR-451、miR-155、miR-221、let-7f、miR-424在两种细胞中表达差异显著.结论 K562/A02与K562细胞存在microRNA表达差异,其中miR-451、miR-155和miR-221在K562/A02中表达显著上调,而let-7f、miR-424则显著下调,提示microRNA可能参与白血病耐药形成,差异表达的microRNA可能为逆转白血病耐药提供新的作用靶点.     

MicroRNA-181b regulates NF-κB-mediated vascular inflammation

EC activation and dysfunction have been linked to a variety of vascular inflammatory disease states. The function of microRNAs (miRNAs) in vascular EC activation and inflammation remains poorly understood. Herein, we report that microRNA-181b (miR-181b) serves as a potent regulator of downstream NF-κB signaling in the vascular endothelium by targeting importin-α3, a protein that is required for nuclear translocation of NF-κB. Overexpression of miR-181b inhibited importin-α3 expression and an enriched set of NF-κB-responsive genes such as adhesion molecules VCAM-1 and E-selectin in ECs in vitro and in vivo. In addition, treatment of mice with proinflammatory stimuli reduced miR-181b expression. Rescue of miR-181b levels by systemic administration of miR-181b "mimics" reduced downstream NF-κB signaling and leukocyte influx in the vascular endothelium and decreased lung injury and mortality in endotoxemic mice. In contrast, miR-181b inhibition exacerbated endotoxin-induced NF-κB activity, leukocyte influx, and lung injury. Finally, we observed that critically ill patients with sepsis had reduced levels of miR-181b compared with control intensive care unit (ICU) subjects. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that miR-181b regulates NF-κB-mediated EC activation and vascular inflammation in response to proinflammatory stimuli and that rescue of miR-181b expression could provide a new target for antiinflammatory therapy and critical illness.