Ratio of miRNA-29 to miRNA-199 expression coordinates mesenchymal stem cell repair of bleomycin-induced pulmonary injury

Sharon J. Elliot, Dustin Anderson-Terhune, Benjamin Roos, Gustavo A. Rubio, Xiaomei Xia, Simone Pereira-Simon, Paola Catanuto, Gina Civettini, Emily S. Hagen, Constadina Arvanitis, Shahriar Shahzeidi, Marilyn K. Glassberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Our previous work demonstrated the anti-fibrotic effects of infusion of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) to prevent or repair bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung injury. The present study investigates mechanisms driving these anti-fibrotic effects. Pulmonary fibrosis developed at day 12 in 22-month-old C57BL/6 male mice after intratracheal BLM instillation. There was a decrease in indices of pulmonary fibrosis, including collagen content, AKT activation, collagen types I and III, αV-integrin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and transforming growth factor β mRNA after infusion of ASCs 12 days post-BLM treatment compared to BLM alone. Infusion of ASCs increased the population of alveolar types I and II epithelial cells that had been reduced after BLM treatment. miRNAscope technology and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed that ASC-treated mice demonstrated increased miR-29a, decreased miR-199, and increased telomere length, telomerase RNA component, and telomerase reverse transcriptase compared to BLM alone. In vitro and ex vivo experiments using double-transfected mouse or human myofibroblasts (miR-29 mimic, and miR-199 inhibitor) confirmed that alterations of these miRNAs regulate downstream effectors of fibrosis. These data suggest that alteration of the ratio of anti-fibrotic to fibrotic miRNAs and increase in telomere length are critical mechanisms of ASC-mediated repair of BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number102461
JournalMolecular Therapy Nucleic Acids
Volume36
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 11 2025
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • MT: Non-coding RNAs
  • mechanisms
  • mesenchymal stem cells
  • microRNA
  • pulmonary fibrosis
  • telomeres

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Drug Discovery

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ratio of miRNA-29 to miRNA-199 expression coordinates mesenchymal stem cell repair of bleomycin-induced pulmonary injury'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this