MiR-3162-3p Is a Novel MicroRNA That Exacerbates Asthma by Regulating β-Catenin

PLoS One. 2016 Mar 9;11(3):e0149257. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149257. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease. In a previous study, we found several circulating microRNA signatures associated with childhood asthma and selected miR-3162-3p for subsequent studies. Since the target proteins and underlying molecular mechanisms of miR-3162-3p in asthma etiopathogenesis are not well characterized, we designed this study to clarify its role. We employed bioinformatics and quantitative PCR methods as a first step to determine the target of miR-3162-3p, and we elucidated β-catenin. Luciferase assays and western blot analysis confirmed β-catenin as a direct target of miR-3162-3p as the 3'-untranslated region of β-catenin mRNA possesses a specific miR-3162-3p pairing site. The correlation between the expression levels of miR-3162-3p and β-catenin is confirmed by quantitative PCR and western blot studies in A549, Beas-2B and H1299 cell lines and OVA-induced asthma mouse model. Of note, upregulation of the endogenous miR-3162-3p level is concomitant with the reduction of β-catenin mRNA and protein expression levels. MiR-3162-3p antagomir treatment antagonizes the endogenous miR-3162-3p and effectively rescues the attenuation of endogenous β-catenin in OVA-induced asthmatic mice, which alleviates airway hyperresponsiveness and ameliorates airway inflammation. Collectively, our findings suggest a novel relationship between miR-3162-3p and β-catenin and clarify their mechanistic role in asthma etiopathogenesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 3' Untranslated Regions / genetics
  • Animals
  • Asthma / complications
  • Asthma / genetics*
  • Asthma / pathology*
  • Asthma / physiopathology
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Line
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Disease Progression*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / complications
  • Inflammation / pathology
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligonucleotides / pharmacology
  • Ovalbumin
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Respiratory Hypersensitivity / complications
  • Respiratory Hypersensitivity / physiopathology
  • Up-Regulation / genetics
  • beta Catenin / genetics*
  • beta Catenin / metabolism

Substances

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • MIRN-3162 microRNA, human
  • MIRN-3162 microRNA, mouse
  • MicroRNAs
  • Oligonucleotides
  • RNA, Messenger
  • beta Catenin
  • Ovalbumin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300602; http://isisn.nsfc.gov.cn/egrantweb/), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (S2013040012902; http://pro.gdstc.gov.cn/egrantweb/), the Guangdong Province Science and Technology Plan Projects (2013B021800077; http://pro.gdstc.gov.cn/egrantweb/), and the Scientific Research Start-up grant from Guangdong Medical College (XB1341; http://www.gdmc.edu.cn/).