RESUMEN
Objective:To study the expression and interaction between miR-194 and PTPN12 in the process of age-related atrophy of thymus for clarifying the regulatory mechanism in the process of this disease.Methods:C57BL/6 mouse were divided into 4 groups as 1 month,6 months,10 months and 19 months old and each group has 6 cases.Thymus tissue was removed and thymic stromal cells were isolated.And thymus epithelial cells were washed out by CD45 antibody and LS column after anesthesia.Fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were used to detect the changes of miR-194 and PTPN12 gene expression in thymus epithelial cells with aging.miR-194 and PTPN12 luciferase reporter vectors were transfected into HEK293 cells,and the auto fluorescence values were detected at 24 h and 48 h,respectively in vitro.Results:The expression level of miR-194 decreased (P<0.05),while the expression level of PTPN12 mRNA increased (P<0.05) as the age increased.And the correlation between miR-194 and PTPN12 mRNA expression was found to be negative(P<0.05).In vitro,luciferase reporter gene results show that miR-194 has a direct effect on the 3'UTR region of PTPN12 gene and had the highest binding efficiency in 48 h.Conclusion:PTPN12 is one of the target genes of miR-194,which is involved in the aging process of thymus and is an important factor regulating the function of thymic ep-ithelial cells.