Steinbeis Transfer Center for Proteome Analysis, Schillingallee 68, 18057 Rostock, Germany.
Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Aug 5;14(8):16087-110. doi: 10.3390/ijms140816087.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules acting as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. They are involved in many biological processes, and their dysregulation is implicated in various diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Interferon-beta (IFN-beta) is widely used as a first-line immunomodulatory treatment of MS patients. Here, we present the first longitudinal study on the miRNA expression changes in response to IFN-beta therapy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained before treatment initiation as well as after two days, four days, and one month, from patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). We measured the expression of 651 mature miRNAs and about 19,000 mRNAs in parallel using real-time PCR arrays and Affymetrix microarrays. We observed that the up-regulation of IFN-beta-responsive genes is accompanied by a down-regulation of several miRNAs, including members of the mir-29 family. These differentially expressed miRNAs were found to be associated with apoptotic processes and IFN feedback loops. A network of miRNA-mRNA target interactions was constructed by integrating the information from different databases. Our results suggest that miRNA-mediated regulation plays an important role in the mechanisms of action of IFN-beta, not only in the treatment of MS but also in normal immune responses. miRNA expression levels in the blood may serve as a biomarker of the biological effects of IFN-beta therapy that may predict individual disease activity and progression.
微小 RNA(miRNAs)是一种小的非编码 RNA 分子,作为基因表达的转录后调控因子。它们参与许多生物学过程,其失调与多种疾病有关,包括多发性硬化症(MS)。干扰素-β(IFN-β)被广泛用作 MS 患者的一线免疫调节治疗药物。在这里,我们首次进行了一项关于 miRNA 表达变化对 IFN-β治疗反应的纵向研究。在开始治疗前以及在 CIS 患者和 RRMS 患者中,分别在治疗开始后 2 天、4 天和 1 个月时采集外周血单核细胞(PBMC)。我们使用实时 PCR 阵列和 Affymetrix 微阵列平行测量了 651 个成熟 miRNA 和大约 19000 个 mRNA 的表达。我们观察到 IFN-β 反应基因的上调伴随着几个 miRNA 的下调,包括 mir-29 家族的成员。这些差异表达的 miRNA 与凋亡过程和 IFN 反馈回路有关。通过整合来自不同数据库的信息,构建了 miRNA-mRNA 靶标相互作用网络。我们的结果表明,miRNA 介导的调节在 IFN-β 的作用机制中起着重要作用,不仅在 MS 的治疗中,而且在正常免疫反应中也是如此。血液中的 miRNA 表达水平可能作为 IFN-β 治疗生物学效应的生物标志物,可预测个体疾病的活动和进展。