Open AccessRole of miR-124 in the regulation of retinoic acid-induced Neuro-2A cell differentiation
Author(s) -
Qun You,
Qiang Gong,
Yuqiao Han,
Rou Pi,
Yanqiu Du,
Dong Shen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
neural regeneration research/neural regeneration research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.93
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1876-7958
pISSN - 1673-5374
DOI - 10.4103/1673-5374.270417
Subject(s) - retinoic acid , microrna , neurite , cellular differentiation , downregulation and upregulation , microbiology and biotechnology , transfection , retinoic acid inducible orphan g protein coupled receptor , tretinoin , chemistry , p19 cell , biology , retinoic acid receptor , cell culture , biochemistry , in vitro , genetics , gene , adult stem cell
Retinoic acid can cause many types of cells, including mouse neuroblastoma Neuro-2A cells, to differentiate into neurons. However, it is still unknown whether microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in this neuronal differentiation. To address this issue, real-time polymerase chain reaction assays were used to detect the expression of several differentiation-related miRNAs during the differentiation of retinoic acid-treated Neuro-2A cells. The results revealed that miR-124 and miR-9 were upregulated, while miR-125b was downregulated in retinoic acid-treated Neuro-2A cells. To identify the miRNA that may play a key role, miR-124 expression was regulated by transfection of miRNA mimics or inhibitors. Morphological analysis results showed that inhibition of miR-124 expression reversed the effects of retinoic acid on neurite outgrowth. Moreover, miR-124 overexpression alone caused Neuro-2A cells to differentiate into neurons, and its inhibitor could block this effect. These results suggest that miR-124 plays an important role in retinoic acid-induced differentiation of Neuro-2A cells.