MCL-1 is modulated in Crohn’s disease fibrosis by miR-29b via IL-6 and IL-8
File(s)Nijhuis2017_Article_MCL-1IsModulatedInCrohnSDiseas.pdf (2.4 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The miR-29 family is involved in fibrosis in multiple organs, including the intestine where miR-29b facilitates TGF-β-mediated up-regulation of collagen in mucosal fibroblasts from Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. Myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL-1), a member of the B-cell CLL/Lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) apoptosis family, is involved in liver fibrosis and is targeted by miR-29b via its 3’-UTR in cultured cell lines. We investigate the role of MCL-1 and miR-29b in primary intestinal fibroblasts and tissue from stricturing CD patients. Transfection of CD intestinal fibroblasts with pre-miR-29b resulted in a significant increase in the mRNA expression of MCL-1 isoforms [MCL-1Long (L)/Extra Short (ES) and MCL-1Short (S)], although MCL-1S was expressed at significantly lower levels. Western blotting predominantly detected the anti-apoptotic MCL-1L isoform, and immunofluorescence showed that staining was localised in discrete nuclear foci. Transfection with pre-miR-29b or anti-miR-29b resulted in a significant increase or decrease, respectively, in MCL-1L foci. CD fibroblasts treated with IL-6 and IL-8, inflammatory cytokines upstream of MCL-1, increased the total mass of MCL-1L-positive foci. Furthermore, transfection of intestinal fibroblasts with pre-miR-29b resulted in an increase in mRNA and protein levels of IL-6 and IL-8. Finally, immunohistochemistry showed reduced MCL-1 protein expression in fibrotic CD samples compared to non-stricturing controls. Together, our findings suggest that induction of MCL-1 by IL-6/IL-8 may surmount any direct down-regulation by miR-29b via its 3’-UTR. We propose that an anti-fibrotic miR-29b/IL-6 IL-8/MCL-1L axis may influence intestinal fibrosis in CD. In the future, therapeutic modulation of this pathway might contribute to the management of fibrosis in CD.
Date Issued
2017-05
Date Acceptance
2017-01-03
Citation
Cell and Tissue Research, 2017, 368 (2), pp.325-335
ISSN
0302-766X
Publisher
Springer Nature
Start Page
325
End Page
335
Journal / Book Title
Cell and Tissue Research
Volume
368
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Identifier
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00441-017-2576-1
Subjects
Neurology & Neurosurgery
1116 Medical Physiology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-02-11