Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

MiR-384 is associated with renal damage in lupus nephritis via regulation of TET3 expression

Jun Zhang¹ , Suli Lu², Ting Ding¹, Haijia Zhao¹, Dongxing Tang¹

¹Nephropathy and Rheumatism Department & Hunan Province End Stage Renal Disease Clinical Medical Research Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of University of South China; ²School of Medical, Hunan Polytechnic College of Environment and Biology, Hengyang City, Hunan Province 421000, China.

For correspondence:- Jun Zhang Email: HYU0plhu9@163.com Tel:+8607348899699

Accepted: 23 November 2020 Published: 30 December 2020

Citation: Zhang J, Lu S, Ding T, Zhao H, Tang D. MiR-384 is associated with renal damage in lupus nephritis via regulation of TET3 expression. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(12):2571-2576 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i12.13

© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the correlations between miR-384 expression and renal damage in lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: Lupus nephritis and normal tissues were collected during surgery. The relative miR-384 expression was evaluated by extracting RNA and performing quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays. expression of ten-eleven translocation (TET3) mRNA and protein were measured by qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. The 24-h urine protein, serum complement C3, and serum creatinine were determined using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. TargetScan and luciferase assays were used to validate the binding site for miR-384 and its target mRNA. Relationships among miR-384, TET3, and renal damage were analyzed by Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients.

Results: MiR-384 expression increased in LN tissues and was positively correlated with the activity index (AI) and chronicity index of LN, whereas miR-384 expression and serum complement C3 were negatively correlated. Positive correlations were observed between miR-384 expression and 24-h urine protein, serum creatinine, and systemic lupus erythematosus disease AI. TargetScan and luciferase assays indicated that the TET3 3′-UTR was the direct target of miR-384. MiR-384 upregulation inhibited TET3 mRNA and protein expression, and was negatively associated with renal damage in LN.

Conclusion: MiR-384 upregulation contributes to renal damage in LN by targeting the 3′-UTR of TET3 mRNA, suggesting that miR-384 is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in LN.

Keywords: MiR-384, Renal damage, Lupus nephritis, Ten-eleven translocation, TET3