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MiR‑146b‑5p promotes the neural conversion of pluripotent stem cells by targeting Smad4.

ABSTRACT: Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are regarded as potential sources that provide specific neural cells for cell therapy in some nervous system diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying the neural differentiation of PSCs remain largely unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are a class of small non‑pro-tein-coding RNAs that act as critical regulatory molecules in many cellular processes. In this study, we found that miR‑146b‑5p expression was markedly increased following the neural induction of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or induced PSCs (iPSCs). In this study, to further identify the role of miR‑146b‑5p, we generated stable miR‑146b‑5p-overexpressing ESC and iPSC cell lines, and induced the differentiation of these cells by the adherent monolayer culture method. In the miR‑146b‑5p-overexpressing ESC- or iPSC-derived cultures, RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the mRNA expression levels of neuroectoderm markers, such as Sox1, Nestin and Pax6, were markedly increased, and flow cytometric analysis verified that the number of Nestin‑positive cells was higher in the miR‑146b‑5p-overexpressing compared with the control cells. Mechanistically, the miR‑146b‑5p-overexpressing ESCs or iPSCs exhibited a significant reduction in Oct4 expression, which may be an explanation for these cells having a tendency to differentiate towards the neural lineage. Moreover, we confirmed that miR‑146b‑5p directly targeted Smad4 and negatively regulated the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling pathway, which contributed to the neural commitment of PSCs. Collectively, our findings uncover the essential role of miR‑146b‑5p in the neural conversion of PSCs.

SUBMITTER: Zhang N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5548013 | biostudies-other | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND:microRNAs (miRNAs) are a small, endogenous non-coding RNAs that are involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation of many biological processes, including embryo implantation and placental development. In our previous study, miR-146a-5p was found expressed higher in the serum exosomes of pregnant sows than non-pregnant. The research on miR-146a-5p has been mainly related to human diseases, but there are few studies on its effects on the reproduction of sows in early pregnancy. OBJECTIVE:In this article, our motivation is to study the role of miR-146a-5p in the early pregnancy of sows on the cell proliferetion and apoptosis by targeting SMAD3 and SMAD4. METHODS:Bioinformatics software was used to identify the target genes of miR-146a-5p. The wildtype and mutant-type recombinant plasmids of dual-luciferase reporter with 3'-UTR of Smad3 or 3'- UTR of Smad4 were constructed, and co-transfected in porcine kidney cell (PK-15 cell) with miR- 146a-5p mimic, mimic-NC(M-NC), inhibitor and inhibitor-NC(IN-NC), then dual-luciferase activity analysis, qRT-PCR and Western blot were performed to verify the target genes. After the transfection of BeWo choriocarcinoma cell (BeWo cell) with miR-146a-5p mimic, M-NC, inhibitor and IN-NC, the mRNA expression of Caspase-3, BAX and Bcl-2 was measured using qRT-PCR, and the cell proliferation was measured using CCK-8 kit. RESULTS:The luciferase, mRNA and protein expression of Smad3 in PK-15 cells treated by Smad3- 3'-UTR-W co-transfected with miR-146a-5p mimic were significantly lower than that with miR- 146a-5p M-NC, and the results of Smad4 were similar to Smad3, but the protein expression had a trend to lower in mimic group. The expression level of Bcl-2 in the miR-146a-5p mimic group was significantly lower than that in the miR-146a-5p M-NC group, but the expression pattern of Caspase-3 was just opposite. The mimic of miR-146a-5p reduced the proliferation of BeWo cells, however the inhibitor increased. CONCLUSION:Smad3 and Smad4 are the direct target genes of miR-146a-5p. The expression of Smad3 and Smad4 were affected by the mimic and inhibitor of miR-146a-5p. miR-146a-5p affects cell apoptosis and proliferation by regulating their target genes. This study provided new data to understand the regulation mechanism of early pregnancy in sows.

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MiR‑146b‑5p promotes the neural conversion of pluripotent stem cells by targeting Smad4.

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