miR-375 regulates rat alveolar epithelial cell trans-differentiation by inhibiting Wnt/-catenin pathway

Author： Wang Yang Huang Chaoqun Reddy Chintagari Narendranath Bhaskaran Manoj Weng Tingting Guo Yujie Xiao Xiao Liu Lin

ISSN： 1362-4962

Source： Nucleic Acids Research, Vol.41, Iss.6, 2013-04, pp. : 3833-3844

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Abstract

Alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) trans-differentiation is a process where type II alveolar epithelial cells (AEC II) trans-differentiate into type I alveolar epithelial cells (AEC I) during lung recovery after various injuries, in which AEC I are damaged. This process is critical for lung tissue repair. MicroRNAs are a group of small RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. They have the potential to regulate almost every aspect of cell physiology. However, whether AEC trans-differentiation is regulated by microRNAs is completely unknown. In this study, we found that miR-375 was downregulated during AEC trans-differentiation. The overexpression of miR-375 with an adenoviral vector inhibited alveolar epithelial trans-differentiation as indicated by an increase in the AEC II marker, surfactant protein C, and decreases in the AEC I markers, T1 and advanced glycosylation end product-specific receptor. miR-375 also inhibited the Wnt/-catenin pathway. The constitutively activation of Wnt/-catenin signaling with a stabilized form of -catenin blocked the miR-375 effects. Frizzled 8 was identified as a target of miR-375. In summary, our results demonstrate that miR-375 regulates AEC trans-differentiation through the Wnt/-catenin pathway. This discovery may provide new targets for therapeutic intervention to benefit lung recovery from injuries.