Zhao X, Dong R, Zhang L, Guo J, Shi Y, Ge L, Wang J, Song Z, Ni B, You Y. N6-methyladenosine-dependent modification of
circGARS acts as a new player that promotes SLE progression through the NF-κB/A20 axis.
Arthritis Res Ther 2022;
24:37. [PMID:
35120571 PMCID:
PMC8815128 DOI:
10.1186/s13075-022-02732-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
Certain circRNAs could be used as biomarkers to determine the risk of development and/or severity of systemic lupus erythematosus, and their new function in the regulation of gene expression has motivated us to investigate their role in SLE
Methods
Experimental methods including qRT-PCR, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), pulldown, dual luciferase reporter assay, RNA interference and cell transfection, RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization, western blotting, and mass spectrometry were used to assessed circGARS (hsa_circRNA_0009000) for immune functions and defined mechanisms by which circGARS promotes the progression in SLE.
Results
Our results demonstrated that the levels of circGARS was remarkably upregulated in SLE and correlated with clinicopathological features. CircGARS directly combined with microRNA-19a (miR-19a). Functionally, circGARS downregulated the expression of TNFAIP3 (A20, tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3) to mediate the activation of immune responses that were regulated by the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway as a negative feedback mechanism. In addition, miR-19a regulated A20 (TNFAIP3) degradation by downregulating the expression of YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA-binding protein 2 (YTHDF2).
Conclusions
The circGARS sponges miR-19a to regulate YTHDF2 expression to promote SLE progression through the A20/NF-κB axis and may act as an independent biomarker to help the treatment of SLE patients.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13075-022-02732-x.
Collapse