MicroRNA-182 Suppresses HGF/SF-Induced Increases in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Proliferation and Migration through Targeting c-Met

PLoS One. 2016 Dec 9;11(12):e0167684. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167684. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

As increases in hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) induce retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) migration and proliferation into the vitreous cavity and contribute to proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) development, we determined if changes in miR-182 expression affect such behavioral changes. We found that miR-182 expression was less in PVR clinical samples than in primary RPE cells whereas c-Met was upregulated. Ectopic miR-182 inhibited RPE cell proliferation, cell cycle, and migration. Bioinformatic analysis identified c-Met as a miR-182 target, which was confirmed with the luciferase reporter assay. Transfection of miR-182 into RPE cells induced c-Met downregulation, which led to reduced cell proliferation and migration through declines in p-Akt formation. MiR-182 downregulation along with c-Met upregulation in PVR tissues suggest that these two opposing effects play important roles in PVR development. As ectopic miR-182 expression suppressed RPE cell proliferation and migration, strategies to selectively upregulate miR-182 expression in a clinical setting may provide a novel option to treat this disease.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cell Movement
  • Cell Proliferation*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Down-Regulation
  • Gene Expression Regulation*
  • Hepatocyte Growth Factor / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / genetics*
  • Retinal Pigment Epithelium / cytology
  • Retinal Pigment Epithelium / metabolism
  • Retinal Pigment Epithelium / pathology*
  • Up-Regulation
  • Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative / genetics*
  • Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative / metabolism
  • Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative / pathology

Substances

  • HGF protein, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • Mirn182 microRNA, human
  • Hepatocyte Growth Factor
  • MET protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met

Grants and funding

This work was supported, in part, by the 973 Project (2012CB722303) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wenzhou Municipal Science-technology Program Project of China (Y20130164), and Science Foundation of Wenzhou Medical University (QTJ11020). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.