A miR-1207-5p binding site polymorphism abolishes regulation of HBEGF and is associated with disease severity in CFHR5 nephropathy.
Heparin binding epidermal growth factor (HBEGF) is expressed in podocytes and was shown to play a role in glomerular physiology. MicroRNA binding sites on the 3'UTR of HBEGF were predicted using miRWalk algorithm and followed by DNA sequencing in 103 patients diagnosed with mild or severe glomerulopathy. A single nucleotide polymorphism, miRSNP C1936T (rs13385), was identified at the 3'UTR of HBEGF that corresponds to the second base of the hsa-miR-1207-5p seed region. When AB8/13 undifferentiated podocytes were transfected with miRNA mimics of hsa-miR-1207-5p, the HBEGF protein levels were reduced by about 50%. A DNA fragment containing the miRSNP allele-1936C was cloned into the pMIR-Report Luciferase vector and co-transfected with miRNA mimics of hsa-miR-1207-5p into AB8/13 podocytes. In agreement with western blot data, this resulted in reduced luciferase expression demonstrating the ability of hsa-miR-1207-5p to directly regulate HBEGF expression. On the contrary, in the presence of the miRSNP 1936T allele, this regulation was abolished. Collectively, these results demonstrate that variant 1936T of this miRSNP prevents hsa-miR-1207-5p from down-regulating HBEGF in podocytes. We hypothesized that this variant has a functional role as a genetic modifier. To this end, we showed that in a cohort of 78 patients diagnosed with CFHR5 nephropathy (also known as C3-glomerulopathy), inheritance of miRSNP 1936T allele was significantly increased in the group demonstrating progression to chronic renal failure on long follow-up. No similar association was detected in a cohort of patients with thin basement membrane nephropathy. This is the first report associating a miRSNP as genetic modifier to a monogenic renal disorder.
Molecular Medicine Research Center and Laboratory of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Gregory
G
Papagregoriou
Kamil
K
Erguler
Harsh
H
Dweep
Konstantinos
K
Voskarides
Panayiota
P
Koupepidou
Yiannis
Y
Athanasiou
Alkis
A
Pierides
Norbert
N
Gretz
Kyriacos N
KN
Felekkis
Constantinos
C
Deltas
D001665:Binding Sites; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
C432223:CFHR5 protein, human; C587883:HBEGF protein, human; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C575047:MIRN1207 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D003165:Complement System Proteins