Micrornas Are Potentially Regulating the Survivin Gene in Pbmcs From Systemic Sclerosis Patients Publisher Pubmed



Ebrahimiyan H^{1, 2, 3} ; Gharibdoost F¹ ; Aslani S^{1, 2, 3} ; Kavosi H¹ ; Farsad F⁴ ; Jamshidi A¹ ; Mahmoudi M^{1, 3}
Source: Modern Rheumatology Published:2020

Abstract

Background: Survivin is an important anti-apoptotic protein and is involved in increasing auto-reactivity during the autoimmune diseases like systemic sclerosis (SSc). Aims: In the current study, we investigate the expression level of total survivin (survivin-TS) and its three important variants alongside with evaluation of the expression level of important microRNAs (miRNAs) that are involved in survivin expression regulation. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 50 healthy controls, 25 diffuse cutaneous SSc (DcSSc), and 25 limited cutaneous SSc (LcSSc) patients. RNA was extracted and single-strand cDNA was synthesized. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to evaluate the expression level of survivin-TS and its variants as well the miRNAs. Results: Overexpression of survivin-2B and downregulation of survivin wild-type (survivin-WT) were found in total-SSc patients; however, expression level of survivin-TS had no significant difference. The expression levels of miR-335-5p, miR-485-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-150-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-218-5p and miR-708-5p were higher in total-SSc patients. Significantly negative correlations were found between transcript levels of miR-150-5p, miR-16-5p, and miR-485-5p with survivin-TS mRNA expression. Conclusion: Survivin variants had altered expression in total-SSc patients. In addition, miRNAs might potentially and negatively regulate the survivin-TS expression. Altered expression of survivin, regulated by miRNAs, may result in apoptosis resistance and auto-reactivity in lymphocytes from patients and have important roles in SSc pathogenicity. © 2019 Japan College of Rheumatology.