Following peripheral nerve injury, hypoxia is formed as a result of defects in blood supply at the injury site. Despite accumulating evidence on the effects of microRNAs (miRNAs) on phenotype modulation of Schwann cells (SCs) after peripheral nerve injury, the impact of hypoxia on SC behaviors through miRNAs during peripheral nerve regeneration has not been estimated. In this study, we confirmed our previous microarray data on the upregulation of miR-132 after sciatic nerve injury in rats and observed that overexpression of miR-132 significantly promoted cell migration of primary cultured SCs. Interestingly, hypoxia-increased expression of miR-132 also enhanced SC migration while inhibition of miR-132 suppressed hypoxia-induced increase in SC migration. miR-132 downregulated PRKAG3 through binding to its 3'-UTR, and PRKAG3 knockdown compromised the reducing effect of miR-132 inhibition on SC migration under normal or hypoxia condition. Moreover, in vivo injection of miR-132 agomir into rats with sciatic nerve transection accelerated SC migration from the proximal to distal stump. Overall, our results suggest that the hypoxia-induced upregulation of miR-132 could promote SC migration and facilitate peripheral nerve regeneration.
Keywords: Hypoxia; Schwann cells; Sciatic nerve injury; miR-132.