MicroRNA-212 activates hepatic stellate cells and promotes liver fibrosis via targeting SMAD7

作者：Zhu, Jie; Zhang, Ziqiang; Zhang, Yitong; Li, Wenshuai; Zheng, Wanwei; Yu, Jianghong; Wang, Bangting; Chen, Lirong; Zhuo, Qin; Chen, Lin; Zhang, Jun^*; Liu, Jie^*

来源：Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2018, 496(1): 176-183.

DOI：10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.01.019

• miR-212-3p
• TGF-beta
• SMAD7
• Hepatic stellate cell
• Liver fibrosis

There has been an increasing number of researches about microRNAs (miRNAs) in the progression of liver fibrosis from the point of their comprehensive functions in regulating the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Among them, it has been reported that miR-212 is up-regulated in activated rat primary HSCs. However, its mechanism has not been determined yet. Here, we confirmed that the level of miR-212-3p was up-regulated in livers of carbon tetrachloride (CCI4)-treated mice compared with the normal control, which is a classical model of chronically damaged fibrotic liver. In vitro, we demonstrated that TGF-beta, a master fibrogenic cytokine, could induce the level of miR-212. In turn, overexpression of miR-212 could induce the activation marker of HSC including alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SIVIA) and collagens by activating TGF-beta signaling pathway. Furthermore, SMAD7, a dominant suppressor of TGF-beta pathway, was identified as a direct target of miR-212-3p. Our results indicate that miR-212-3p facilitates the activation of HSCs and TGF-beta pathway by targeting SMAD7, highlighting that it can be served as a novel biomarker or therapeutic target for liver fibrosis.

• 出版日期2018-1-29
• 单位复旦大学