title: MicroRNA-21 Promotes Proliferation of Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes through Mediation of NF-κB Nuclear Translocation in a Rat Model of Collagen-Induced Rheumatoid Arthritis.
abstract: MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is overexpressed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was designed to investigate the effect and mechanism of miR-21 on cell proliferation in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) of RA. FLS were primary-cultured from a rat RA model. RA-FLS and normal FLS were infected with lentivirus (anti-miR-21 or pro-miR-21) for overexpression or downregulation of miR-21, respectively. The effects of miR-21 overexpression or inhibition on nucleoprotein NF-κB levels and FLS cell proliferation were evaluated by western blotting and MTT assays. The effects of an inhibitor of NF-κB nuclear translocation (BAY 11-7082) were also evaluated. The results showed that the levels of miR-21 and nucleoprotein NF-κB were increased in FLS of RA model rats compared to the control group. Downregulation of miR-21 in RA FLS led to a significant decrease in nucleoprotein NF-κB levels and cell proliferation rates compared to the antinegative control (NC) group. However, miR-21 overexpression in normal FLS resulted in a significant increase of nucleoprotein NF-κB levels and cell proliferation rates compared to the pro-NC group. The effects of miR-21 overexpression were reversed by BAY 11-7082. We concluded that upregulated miR-21 in FLS in RA model rats may promote cell proliferation by facilitating NF-κB nuclear translocation, thus affecting the NF-κB pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, School of TCM, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7806-056X
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, School of TCM, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Pei-Feng
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Xian
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, School of TCM, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, School of TCM, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Xu
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D021381:Protein Transport; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D000070918:Synoviocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D016328:NF-kappa B; C546082:mirn21 microRNA, rat