Differential expression of microRNAs in dorsal root ganglia after sciatic nerve injury

Anjie Lu; Zufa Huang; Chaoyue Zhang; Xianfang Zhang; Jiuhong Zhao; Haiying Zhang; Quanpeng Zhang; Song Wu; Xinan Yi

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.133164

Differential expression of microRNAs in dorsal root ganglia after sciatic nerve injury

Neural Regen Res. 2014 May 15;9(10):1031-40. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.133164.

Authors

Anjie Lu¹, Zufa Huang¹, Chaoyue Zhang¹, Xianfang Zhang², Jiuhong Zhao², Haiying Zhang², Quanpeng Zhang², Song Wu¹, Xinan Yi²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedics, the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
² Neurosciences Research Department, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan Province, China.

Abstract

This study investigated the possible involvement of microRNAs in the regulation of genes that participate in peripheral neural regeneration. A microRNA microarray analysis was conducted and 23 microRNAs were identified whose expression was significantly changed in rat dorsal root ganglia after sciatic nerve transection. The expression of one of the downregulated microRNAs, microRNA-214, was validated using quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR. MicroRNA-214 was predicted to target the 3'-untranslated region of Slit-Robo GTPase-activating protein 3. In situ hybridization verified that microRNA-214 was located in the cytoplasm of dorsal root ganglia primary neurons and was downregulated following sciatic nerve transection. Moreover, a combination of in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry revealed that microRNA-214 and Slit-Robo GTPase-activating protein 3 were co-localized in dorsal root ganglion primary neurons. Western blot analysis suggested that Slit-Robo GTPase-activating protein 3 was upregulated in dorsal root ganglion neurons after sciatic nerve transection. These data demonstrate that microRNA-214 is located and differentially expressed in dorsal root ganglion primary neurons and may participate in regulating the gene expression of Slit-Robo GTPase-activating protein 3 after sciatic nerve transection.

Keywords: NSFC grant; Slit-Robo GTPaseactivating protein 3; bioinformatics; dorsal root ganglia; gene expression; microRNA-214; microarray; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; peripheral nerve injury; sciatic nerve injury.