title: Enforced expression of microRNA-21 influences the replication of varicella-zoster virus by triggering signal transducer and activator of transcription 3.
abstract: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) causes chronic pain and serious complications, including zoster paresis. However, the mechanism of VZV replication, a critical part of VZV pathogenesis, remains largely unknown and was investigated in the present study. The upregulation of microRNA-21 (miR-21) was identified following VZV infectionin vitroby quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The hypothesis that the overexpression of miR-21 activates the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway was validated by measuring the mRNA expression levels of STAT3 and the anti-apoptotic protein survivin in human malignant melanoma (MeWo) and human embryonic lung fibroblast (HELF) cell lines transfected with miR-21-mimic and comparing them with those in cells transfected with miR-control. To further study the interaction of miR-21, STAT3 and VZV replication, the effects of miR-21 overexpression and STAT3 knockdown were evaluated. Higher virus titers were detected when miR-21 was upregulatedin vitro. Moreover, it was identified that significantly lower virus titers were present in MeWo cells in which STAT3 was knocked down. In addition, the overexpression of miR-21 did not stimulate VZV replication in the MeWo cell line when the STAT3 gene was silenced. Therefore, the observations of the present study indicate that the enforced expression of miR-21 promotes the replication of VZV by activating STAT3in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China ; Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohehot, Inner Mongolia 010050, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohehot, Inner Mongolia 010050, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510010, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhongrong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510010, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510010, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huilan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: microRNA-21; signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; varicella-zoster virus