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miR‐26a suppresses autophagy in swine Sertoli cells by targeting ULK 2
Author(s) -
Ran M,
Li Z,
Cao R,
Weng B,
Peng F,
He C,
Chen B
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
reproduction in domestic animals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.546
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1439-0531
pISSN - 0936-6768
DOI - 10.1111/rda.13177
Subject(s) - sertoli cell , autophagy , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , biology , microrna , cell , messenger rna , reporter gene , spermatogenesis , gene expression , rna , chemistry , endocrinology , genetics , apoptosis
Contents A large number of micro RNA s (mi RNA s) have been detected from porcine testicular tissues thanks to the development of high‐throughput sequencing technology. However, the regulatory roles of most identified mi RNA s in swine testicular development or spermatogenesis are poorly understood. In our previous study, ULK 2 (uncoordinated‐51‐like kinase 2) was predicted as a target gene of miR‐26a. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of miR‐26a in swine Sertoli cell autophagy. The relative expression of miR‐26a and ULK 2 levels has a significant negative correlation ( R 2 = .5964, p ≤ .01) in nine developmental stages of swine testicular tissue. Dual‐luciferase reporter assay results show that miR‐26a directly targets the 3′ UTR of the ULK 2 gene (position 618–624). In addition, both the mRNA and protein expression of ULK 2 were downregulated by miR‐26a in swine Sertoli cells. These results indicate that miR‐26a targets the ULK 2 gene and downregulates its expression in swine Sertoli cells. Based on the expression of marker genes ( LC 3, p62 and Beclin‐1), overexpression of miR‐26a or knock‐down of ULK 2 inhibits swine Sertoli cell autophagy. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that miR‐26a suppresses autophagy in swine Sertoli cells by targeting ULK 2 .