A pancreatic islet-specific microRNA regulates insulin secretion

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a growing class of non-coding RNAs that are thought to regulate gene expression by translational repression. Several miRNAs in animals exhibit tissue-specific or developmental-stage-specific expression, indicating that they could play important roles in many biological processes. To study the role of miRNAs in pancreatic endocrine cells we cloned and identified a novel, evolutionarily conserved and islet-specific miRNA (miR-375). Here we show that overexpression of miR-375 suppressed glucose-induced insulin secretion, and conversely, inhibition of endogenous miR-375 function enhanced insulin secretion. The mechanism by which secretion is modified by miR-375 is independent of changes in glucose metabolism or intracellular Ca2+-signalling but correlated with a direct effect on insulin exocytosis. Myotrophin (Mtpn) was predicted to be and validated as a target of miR-375. Inhibition of Mtpn by small interfering (si)RNA mimicked the effects of miR-375 on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and exocytosis. Thus, miR-375 is a regulator of insulin secretion and may thereby constitute a novel pharmacological target for the treatment of diabetes.     

藻蓝色素蛋白通过调控miR-642a-5p抑制LTEP-a2细胞的增殖和迁移

研究藻蓝色素蛋白抑制非小细胞肺癌LTEP-a2体外增殖迁移的机制.以LTEP-a2细胞为模型,采用高通量miRNA转录组学对藻蓝蛋白处理后细胞中差异表达的miRNA进行了筛选;对筛选出的差异miRNA,利用体外转染mimics的方法对细胞的增殖、迁移能力进行验证.研究结果显示,藻蓝蛋白处理LTEP-a2细胞后能够显著增加细胞内miR-642a-5p的表达水平;过表达miR-642a-5p能够显著抑制细胞的体外增殖、迁移能力;此外,藻蓝蛋白可以通过上调miR-642a-5p表达抑制核受体NF-κB信号通路,降低蛋白磷酸化水平,进而抑制LTEP-a2细胞的增殖迁移能力.研究能够为藻蓝色素蛋白的应用以及非小细胞肺癌的治疗提供一定的理论基础.