Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is involved in the initiation and progression of liver fibrosis by regulating genes encoding host proteins. However, the underlying mechanism of HCV-induced liver fibrosis is still to be determined. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot were performed to investigate the effect of HCV infection on the expression of the cellular microRNA miR-16 and its target genes encoding hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Smad7 in patients infected with HCV and in a liver cell line, QSG-7701, transfected with Ad-HCV, a recombinant adenovirus construct for expression of the HCV core protein. Regulation of HGF and Smad7 expression by miR-16 was assessed using luciferase reporter construct assays and miR-16 mimic transfection. Interferon-α (IFN-α) was used to verify the alteration of gene expression induced by HCV in QSG-7701 cells. Here, we found that miR-16 levels were increased in patients with HCV infection and were correlated with HGF and Smad7 expression levels in patients with HCV infection. Furthermore, HGF and Smad7 were predicted by bioinformatics analysis to be targets of miR-16. Upregulation of miR-16 and decreased HGF and Smad7 expression were still shown in QSG-7701 cells infected with Ad-HCV. Additionally, interferon-α (IFN-α) could reverse the changes in gene expression induced by HCV infection. These results suggest that the upregulation of miR-16 expression induced by HCV infection is a novel mechanism that contributes to downregulation of HGF and Smad7 in the development of liver fibrosis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brase JC, Wuttig D, Kuner R, Sultmann H (2010) Serum microRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers for cancer. Mol Cancer 9:306
Budhu A, Jia HL, Forgues M, Liu CG, Goldstein D, Lam A, Zanetti KA, Ye QH, Qin LX, Croce CM (2008) Identification of metastasis-related microRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology 47:897–907
Cermelli S, Ruggieri A, Marrero JA, Ioannou GN, Beretta L (2011) Circulating microRNAs in patients with chronic hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. PloS One 6:e23937
Chang C-C, Lin C-C, Hsieh W-L, Lai H-W, Tsai C-H, Cheng Y-W (2014) MicroRNA expression profiling in PBMCs: a potential diagnostic biomarker of chronic hepatitis C. Dis Markers 2014:1–9
Chung AC, Huang XR, Meng X, Lan HY (2010) miR-192 mediates TGF-β/Smad3-driven renal fibrosis. J Am Soc Nephrol 21:1317–1325
Dooley S, Hamzavi J, Breitkopf K, Wiercinska E, Said HM, Lorenzen J, Ten Dijke P, Gressner AM (2003) Smad7 prevents activation of hepatic stellate cells and liver fibrosis in rats. Gastroenterology 125:178–191
Fognani E, Giannini C, Piluso A, Gragnani L, Monti M, Caini P, Ranieri J, Urraro T, Triboli E, Laffi G (2013) Role of microRNA profile modifications in hepatitis C virus-related mixed cryoglobulinemia. PloS One 8:e62965
Funakoshi H, Nakamura T (2003) Hepatocyte growth factor: from diagnosis to clinical applications. Clin Chim Acta 327:1–23
Ikeda K, Saitoh S, Suzuki Y, Kobayashi M, Tsubota A, Koida I, Arase Y, Fukuda M, Chayama K, Murashima N (1998) Disease progression and hepatocellular carcinogenesis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis: a prospective observation of 2215 patients. J Hepatol 28:930–938
Z-z Jiang, G-y Xia, Zhang Y, Dong L, B-z He, J-g Sun (2013) Attenuation of hepatic fibrosis through ultrasound-microbubble-mediated HGF gene transfer in rats. Clin Imaging 37:104–110
Kinoshita T, Tashiro K, Nakamura T (1989) Marked increase of HGF mRNA in non-parenchymal liver cells of rats treated with hepatotoxins. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 165:1229–1234
Li Q, Weng J, Mohan RR, Bennett GL, Schwall R, Wang Z-F, Tabor K, Kim J, Hargrave S, Cuevas KH (1996) Hepatocyte growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor receptor in the lacrimal gland, tears, and cornea. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 37:727–739
Liaw YF, Tai DI, Chu CM, Chen TJ (1988) The development of cirrhosis in patients with chronic type B hepatitis: a prospective study. Hepatology 8:493–496
Matsuda Y, Matsumoto K, Yamada A, Ichida T, Asakura H, Komoriya Y, Nishiyama E, Nakamura T (1997) Preventive and therapeutic effects in rats of hepatocyte growth factor infusion on liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Hepatology 26:81–89
Mitchell PS, Parkin RK, Kroh EM, Fritz BR, Wyman SK, Pogosova-Agadjanyan EL, Peterson A, Noteboom J, O’Briant KC, Allen A (2008) Circulating microRNAs as stable blood-based markers for cancer detection. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:10513–10518
Niederau C, Lange S, Heintges T, Erhardt A, Buschkamp M, Hürter D, Nawrocki M, Kruska L, Hensel F, Petry W (1998) Prognosis of chronic hepatitis C: results of a large, prospective cohort study. Hepatology 28:1687–1695
Poynard T, Bedossa P, Opolon P (1997) Natural history of liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Lancet 349:825–832
Roderburg C, Luedde M, Cardenas DV, Vucur M, Mollnow T, Zimmermann HW, Koch A, Hellerbrand C, Weiskirchen R, Frey N (2013) miR-133a mediates TGF-b-dependent de-repression of collagen-synthesis in hepatic stellate cells during liver fibrosis. J Hepatol 58:S245–S246
Shao R-X, Hoshida Y, Otsuka M, Kato N, Tateishi R, Teratani T, Shiina S, Taniguchi H, Moriyama M, Kawabe T (2005) Hepatic gene expression profiles associated with fibrosis progression and hepatocarcinogenesis in hepatitis C patients. World J Gastroenterol 11:1995–1999
Sukata T, Sumida K, Kushida M, Ogata K, Miyata K, Yabushita S, Uwagawa S (2011) Circulating microRNAs, possible indicators of progress of rat hepatocarcinogenesis from early stages. Toxicol Lett 200:46–52
Trebicka J, Anadol E, Elfimova N, Strack I, Roggendorf M, Viazov S, Wedemeyer I, Drebber U, Rockstroh J, Sauerbruch T (2013) Hepatic and serum levels of miR-122 after chronic HCV-induced fibrosis. J Hepatol 58:234–239
Tsukada S, Parsons CJ, Rippe RA (2006) Mechanisms of liver fibrosis. Clin Chim Acta 364:33–60
Verrecchia F, Chu M-L, Mauviel A (2001) Identification of novel TGF-b/Smad gene targets in dermal fibroblasts using a combined cDNA microarray/promoter transactivation approach. J Biol Chem 276:17058–17062
Wu G, Yu F, Xiao Z, Xu K, Xu J, Tang W, Wang J, Song E (2011) Hepatitis B virus X protein downregulates expression of the miR-16 family in malignant hepatocytes in vitro. Br J Cancer 105:146–153
Yang Q, Fu S, Wang J (2014) Hepatitis C virus infection decreases the expression of Toll-like receptors 3 and 7 via upregulation of miR-758. Arch Virol 159:2997–3003
Zarnegar R, DeFrances MC, Kost DP, Lindroos P, Michalopoulos GK (1991) Expression of hepatocyte growth factor mRNA in regenerating rat liver after partial hepatectomy. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 177:559–565
Acknowledgments
Bin Zhu conceived and designed the experiments, Bin Zhu and Guang-wen Zhang analyzed the data. Bin Zhu and Xiao-xia Wei wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Tian-Bao Wang, Yan-cai Zhou, and A-min Liu contributed to the writing of the manuscript. Bin Zhu, Xiao-xia Wei, Tian-Bao Wang, Yan-cai Zhou, A-min Liu, and Guang-wen Zhang agree with manuscript results and conclusions. All authors reviewed and approved of the final manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhu, B., Wei, Xx., Wang, Tb. et al. Increased miR-16 expression induced by hepatitis C virus infection promotes liver fibrosis through downregulation of hepatocyte growth factor and Smad7. Arch Virol 160, 2043–2050 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2474-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2474-3