Abstract
Rationale: Changes in airway epithelial cell differentiation, driven in part by IL-13, are important in asthma. Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) regulate cell differentiation in many systems and could contribute to epithelial abnormalities in asthma. Objectives: To determine whether airway epithelial miRNA expression is altered in asthma and identify IL-13-regulated miRNAs. Methods:We used miRNAmicroarrays to analyze bronchial epithelial brushings from 16 steroid-naive subjects with asthma before and after inhaled corticosteroids, 19 steroid-using subjects with asthma, and 12 healthy control subjects, and the effects of IL-13 and corticosteroids on cultured bronchial epithelial cells. We used quantitative polymerase chain reaction to confirm selected microarray results. Measurements and Main Results: Most(12 of 16) steroid-naive subjects withasthmahada markedlyabnormal pattern of bronchial epithelial miRNA expression by microarray analysis. Compared with control subjects, 217 miRNAs were differentially expressed in steroid-naive subjects with asthma and 200 in steroid-using subjects with asthma (false discovery rate < 0.05). Treatment with inhaled corticosteroids had modest effects on miRNA expression in steroid-naive asthma, inducing a statistically significant (false discovery rate < 0.05) change for only nine miRNAs. qPCR analysis confirmed differential expression of 22 miRNAsthat were highly differentially expressed by microarrays. IL-13 stimulation recapitulated changes in many differentially expressed miRNAs, including four members of the miR-34/449 family, and these changes in miR-34/449 family members were resistant to corticosteroids. Conclusions: Dramatic alterations of airway epithelial cell miRNA levels are a common feature of asthma. These alterations are only modestly corrected by inhaled corticosteroids. IL-13 effects may account for some of these alterations, including repression of miR-34/449 family members that have established roles in airway epithelial cell differentiation. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00595153).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 965-974 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine |
Volume | 186 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 15 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Airway epithelium
- Asthma
- miRNA
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine