DMRT3-mediated lncRNA OIP5-AS1 promotes the pyroptosis of bronchial epithelial cells by binding with EIF4A3 to enhance YAP mRNA stability.

Asthma is featured by persistent airway inflammation. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are reported to play critical roles in asthma. However, the function of Opa interacting protein 5-antisense 1 (OIP5-AS1) in pyroptosis during the development of asthma remains unexplored. The blood samples of asthma patients (n = 32) as well as the baseline characteristics of asthma patients or healthy people were collected. An in vivo model of asthma was established using house dust mites (HDM). To mimic asthma in vitro, BEAS-2B cells were treated with HDM. Cell pyroptosis and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry. The levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The binding among messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was assessed by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), dual luciferase report assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), and RNA pull-down assay, respectively. The cellular localization was observed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) staining. The level of OIP5-AS1 was upregulated in asthma patients. HDM induced pyroptosis and increased the levels of IL-18, IL-1β, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in BEAS-2B cells, which was obviously reversed by OIP5-AS1 knockdown. Consistently, the expressions of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), c-caspase 1, and pyroptosis-related gasdermin D-1 (GSDMD-1) in BEAS-2B cells were upregulated by HDM treatment, while these phenomena were partially abolished by silencing of OIP5-AS1. Moreover, HDM promoted the progression of asthma in vivo, which was rescued by the downregulation of OIP5-AS1. OIP5-AS1 silencing decreased HDM-induced cell pyroptosis by inactivation of NLRP3. More importantly, OIP5-AS1 promoted the mRNA stability of yes-associated protein (YAP) via binding with eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A3 (EIF4A3), and OIP5-AS1 was transcriptionally upregulated by doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 3 (DMRT3). DMRT3-mediated OIP5-AS1 aggravated the progression of asthma by mediation of the EIF4A3/YAP axis, which might provide a new therapeutic strategy against asthma.