MicroRNA-381 Negatively Regulates TLR4 Signaling in A549 Cells in Response to LPS Stimulation

Abstract EN

It is widely reported that miR-381 is dysregulated in various tumors.

However, the specific role of miR-381 in respiratory infections has not been reported.

To probe this role, A549 cells were pretreated with 1 μg/mL LPS for 24 h.

The level of miR-381 was detected using RT-qPCR.

The expression of proinflammatory cytokines was determined using an ELISA kit and western blotting.

Bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the target genes of miR-381, and a luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the expression of the target genes.

miR-381 expression was increased in A549 cells treated with LPS, which is a ligand of TLRs.

Further study revealed that the overexpression of miR-381 increased the activity of NF-κB signaling, thereby increasing the expression of IL-6, TNFα, and COX-2.

Further study revealed that IκBα was a target gene of miR-381.

The upregulation of miR-381 under LPS stimulation contributes to respiratory infections mainly by targeting IκBα.