LncRNA H19 initiates microglial pyroptosis and neuronal death in retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury

Cell Death Differ. 2020 Jan;27(1):176-191. doi: 10.1038/s41418-019-0351-4. Epub 2019 May 24.

Abstract

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) is a common pathology when the blood supply to an organ was disrupted and then restored. During the reperfusion process, inflammation and tissue injury were triggered, which were mediated by immunocytes and cytokines. However, the mechanisms initiating I/R-induced inflammation and driving immunocytes activation remained largely unknown. In this study, we identified long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-H19 as the key onset of I/R-induced inflammation. We found that I/R increased lncRNA-H19 expression to significantly promote NLRP3/6 inflammasome imbalance and resulted in microglial pyroptosis, cytokines overproduction, and neuronal death. These damages were effectively inhibited by lncRNA-H19 knockout. Specifically, lncRNA-H19 functioned via sponging miR-21 to facilitate PDCD4 expression and formed a competing endogenous RNA network (ceRNET) in ischemic cascade. LncRNA H19/miR-21/PDCD4 ceRNET can directly regulate I/R-induced sterile inflammation and neuronal lesion in vivo. We thus propose that lncRNA-H19 is a previously unknown danger signals in the molecular and immunological pathways of I/R injury, and pharmacological approaches to inhibit H19 seem likely to become treatment modalities for patients in the near future based on these mechanistic findings.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / genetics
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / metabolism
  • Caspases / metabolism
  • Inflammasomes / metabolism
  • Male
  • Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • MicroRNAs / metabolism
  • Microglia / pathology*
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • Neurons / pathology*
  • Pyroptosis*
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / physiology*
  • Reperfusion Injury / genetics*
  • Reperfusion Injury / metabolism
  • Reperfusion Injury / pathology
  • Reperfusion Injury / physiopathology
  • Retina / metabolism
  • Retina / pathology
  • Retinal Diseases / genetics*
  • Retinal Diseases / metabolism
  • Retinal Diseases / pathology
  • Retinal Diseases / physiopathology
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / pathology
  • Signal Transduction
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
  • H19 long non-coding RNA
  • Inflammasomes
  • MIRN21 microRNA, mouse
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • Caspases