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Identification of microRNA-18a as a novel regulator of the insulin-like growth factor-1 in the proliferation and regeneration of deer antler

Biotechnology Letters volume 36, pages 703–710 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

To investigate the effect of miR-18a on the regulation of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) during growth of antlers in sika deer, miRNA Chip analysis, Target Scan and real-time PCR analysis were used to identify miRNAs that bind to the 3′-UTR of IGF-1. An miR-18a mimic was transfected into antler cartilage cells and the expression levels were quantified by real-time PCR. Dual luciferase assays revealed that miR-18a binds to the 3′-UTR of the IGF-1 gene thus indicating this to be a target gene regulated by miR-18a. MTT assays and cell-cycle analyses confirmed that miR-18a significantly inhibited proliferation of cartilage cells. In contrast, transfection of miR-18a inhibitors increased proliferation. Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that over-expression of miR-18a down-regulated IGF-1 protein levels while IGF-1 expression was increased after transfection of miR-18a inhibitors. Thus, miR-1 down-regulated IGF-1 expression thus implicating miR-18a as an important regulator of antler proliferation.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30972083). This work was performed by Jilin Provincial Science Technology Development Foundation of China (No. 20090574).

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  1. College of Life Sciences, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, 130118, Jilin, China

    Wei Hu, Ting Li, Lei Wu, Mu Li & Xingyu Meng

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  1. Wei Hu
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  2. Ting Li
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  3. Lei Wu
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  4. Mu Li
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  5. Xingyu Meng
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Correspondence to Wei Hu.

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Hu, W., Li, T., Wu, L. et al. Identification of microRNA-18a as a novel regulator of the insulin-like growth factor-1 in the proliferation and regeneration of deer antler. Biotechnol Lett 36, 703–710 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1428-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-013-1428-7

Keywords

  • Antler growth
  • Cartilage cells
  • Insulin-like growth factor-1
  • MicroRNA-18a
  • Proliferation
  • Regeneration
  • Sika deer