Abstract
Therapeutic inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) action has emerged as a potential approach for managing several diseases, including myopia. Herein, we analyzed the role of HIF-1α in the progression of pathologic myopia by regulating the miR-150-5p/LAMA4/p38 MAPK axis. Microarray-based gene expression profiling of pathologic myopia was employed to identify differentially expressed genes. Human scleral fibroblasts (HSFs) were cultured under the hypoxic conditions. Interaction among HIF-1α, miR-150-5p, and LAMA4 was identified. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were performed in hypoxia-exposed HSFs to evaluate the effect of the HIF-1α/miR-150-5p/LAMA4/p38 MAPK axis on the extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation of HSFs and the subsequent pathologic myopia progression. Increased LAMA4 but decreased miR-150-5p was found in serum sample of pathologic myopia patients. HIF-1α and LAMA4 were abundantly expressed, and p38 MAPK was activated while miR-150-5p was weakly expressed in hypoxia-exposed HSFs. HIF-1α was enriched in the promoter region of miR-150-5p and downregulated its expression, thus repressing the ECM degradation of HSFs as shown by increased COL1A1 and TIMP-2 and reduced MMP2. In addition, LAMA4 was a downstream target of miR-150-5p and under the negative regulation by miR-150-5p. Overexpression of miR-150-5p promoted the ECM degradation of HSFs by inhibiting LAMA4 expression and p38 MAPK signaling pathway. However, upregulation of LAMA4 reversed the promoting effect of miR-150-5p on ECM degradation of HSFs. Overall, our findings suggest that HIF-1α can decline miR-150-5p expression and facilitate LAMA4-mediated p38 MAPK signaling pathway activation, thus arresting ECM degradation of HSFs and eventually inducing pathologic myopia.
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the manuscript and supplementary materials.
Abbreviations
- HIF-1α:
-
Hypoxia-inducible transcription factor-1α
- HSFs:
-
Human scleral fibroblasts
- ECM:
-
Extracellular matrix
- miR-150:
-
microRNA-150
- 3’UTR:
-
3’untranslated region
- LAMA4:
-
Laminin α4
- MAPK:
-
Mitogen-activated protein kinase
- GEO:
-
Gene expression omnibus
- RT-qPCR:
-
Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction
- NC:
-
Negative control
- sh:
-
Short hairpin RNA
- RIPA:
-
Radio-immunoprecipitation assay
- BSA:
-
Bovine serum albumin
- TIMP:
-
Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2
- MMP2:
-
Matrix metalloproteinase 2
- COL1A1:
-
Collagen type I alpha 1
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This work is supported by High Level Hospital Program, Health Commission of Guangdong Province, China (HKUSZH201902024).
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The collection of all clinical samples was approved by the ethics committee of The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, and all patients signed an informed consent form.
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Ren, Y., Yang, X., Luo, Z. et al. HIF-1α aggravates pathologic myopia through the miR-150-5p/LAMA4/p38 MAPK signaling axis. Mol Cell Biochem 477, 1065–1074 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-021-04305-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-021-04305-z