As one of the most common liver disorders worldwide, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) begins with the abnormal accumulation of triglyceride (TG) in the liver and can lead to inflammation and fibrosis. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) NEAT1 was reported to promote NAFLD progress. However, its molecular mechanism in NAFLD was not fully clear. In vitro cellular model of NAFLD was established with BRL3A cell treated by free fatty acid (FFA). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was carried out to assess cell proliferation. The expression of mRNA and protein of inflammation and fibrosis in BRL3A cell was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Bioinformatics and dual-luciferase reporter assays were used to predict and validate the interaction between NEAT1 and miR-506 as well as GLI3 and miR-506. NEAT1 was upregulated while miR-506 was downregulated in the progression of NAFLD. Meanwhile, NEAT1 and miR-506 were proved to regulate fibrosis, inflammatory response, and lipid metabolism. Knockdown of NEAT1 inhibited GLI3 expression and promoted miR-506 expression, Overexpression of miR-506 inhibited NEAT1 and GLI3 expression. Moreover, dual-luciferase reporter assays proved that miR-506 could bind to NEAT1 and GLI3, whereas NEAT1 could sponge miR-506 to regulate GLI3 expression. lncRNA NEAT1 could regulate fibrosis, inflammatory response, and lipid metabolism via the miR-506/GLI3 axis as a ceRNA, which is a novel mechanistic role in the regulation of NAFLD. These results provide a new potential treatment target for NAFLD.
Keywords: GLI3; NAFLD; lncRNA-NEAT1; miR-506.