1. MicroRNA-195 Activates Hepatic Stellate Cells In Vitro by Targeting Smad7
- Author
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Chun Jiang Wang, Shi Kun Liu, Cui Fang Wu, Li Ying Song, Yu Tao Ma, and Wei Jin Fang
- Subjects
Liver Cirrhosis ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Article Subject ,lcsh:Medicine ,SMAD ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Smad7 Protein ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ,03 medical and health sciences ,Western blot ,Downregulation and upregulation ,Genes, Reporter ,Hepatic Stellate Cells ,medicine ,Animals ,Diethylnitrosamine ,Luciferase ,3' Untranslated Regions ,Regulation of gene expression ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,integumentary system ,lcsh:R ,General Medicine ,Transfection ,Molecular biology ,In vitro ,Rats ,Up-Regulation ,Disease Models, Animal ,MicroRNAs ,030104 developmental biology ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Hepatic stellate cell ,Research Article - Abstract
Background and Aim. Aberrant activation of the TGF-β1/Smad pathway contributes to the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). MicroRNA-195 has been shown to regulate the activation of HSCs. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miRNA-195 in HSCs activation. Methods. A liver fibrotic rat model induced by diethylnitrosamine was established. Dual luciferase reporter assays were performed to verify that Smad7 was the target of miRNA-195. The expression levels of miR-195, Smad7, and α-SMA in HSC-T6 transfected, respectively, with miR-195 mimic, inhibitor, or control were measured by qRT-PCR. The protein expression of Smad7 was detected by Western blot analysis. Results. Enhanced miR-195 and decreased Smad7 were observed in diethylnitrosamine-induced liver fibrotic rats (P<0.05). Dual luciferase reporter assays showed that the miR-195 mimic significantly suppressed the luciferase activity of a reporter plasmid carrying the binding site of miR-195 on the 3′UTR of Smad7 (P<0.05). The miR-195 mimics activated HSCs, further elevated miR-195 and α-SMA (P<0.01), and reduced the Smad7 level (P<0.05). The miR-195 inhibitors blocked the activation of HSCs, reduced the expression of miR-195 and α-SMA (P<0.01), and upregulated the expression of Smad7 (P<0.05). Conclusion. Collectively, we demonstrated that miRNA-195 activated HSCs by targeting Smad7.
- Published
- 2017