Article Text
Abstract
Background Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a life-threatening congenital disorder in which the enteric nervous system is completely missing from the distal gut. Recent studies have shown that miR-4516 markedly inhibits cell migration, and as one of its potential targets, MAPK10 functions as a modifier for developing HSCR. We thus aimed to evaluate the role of miR-4516 and MAPK10 in HSCR and how they contribute to the pathogenesis of HSCR.
Methods We examined 13 genetic variants using the MassArray system in a case–control study (n=1015). We further investigated miR-4516-mediated regulation of MAPK10 in HSCR cases and human neural cells, the effects of cis-acting elements in MAPK10 on miR-4516-mediated modulation and cell migration process.
Results Three positive 3′ UTR variants in MAPK10 were associated with altered HSCR susceptibility. We also showed that miR-4516 directly regulates MAPK10 expression, and this regulatory mechanism is significantly affected by the 3′ UTR cis-acting elements of MAPK10. In addition, knock-down of MAPK10 rescued the effect of miR-4516 on the migration of human neural cells.
Conclusion Our findings indicate a key role of miR-4516 and its direct target MAPK10 in HSCR risk, and highlight the general importance of cis- and posttranscriptional modulation for HSCR pathogenesis.
- gastroenterology
- genetics
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Footnotes
YW and QJ contributed equally.
Contributors YW, QJ, LL and WC designed the study. YW, HC and ZX performed the experiments. QJ, WW and BG collected the samples. YW, QJ, LL and WC analysed the data. YW, QJ and AC wrote the manuscript. LL and WC supervised the study. All authors approved the final manuscript.
Funding This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (81670469, 81630039 and 81771620), SMC-Chenxing Young Scholar Program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (17DZ2272000), Beijing Hospital Administration ‘Peak Climbing’ Talents Development Program (DFL20181301) and Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (201840028).
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Parental/guardian consent obtained.
Ethics approval The study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of both Xinhua Hospital and Capital Institute of Pediatrics (reference XHEC-D-2011-022 and SHERLL 2013039).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplementary information.