Differential expressions of microRNAs and their predicted targets in liver transplant recipients with long-term stable survival / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine whether the miRNA expression profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) differs between liver transplant recipients with long-term stable survival and those with acute rejection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-nine liver transplant recipients with long-term stable survival (STA) group, 10 recipients with acute rejection (RJ group), and 17 healthy subjects (control group) were recruited for genome-wide microarray analysis of miRNA expressions in the PBMCs. The differentially expressed miRNAs among the 3 groups were validated by real-time PCR, and the targets of these miRNAs were predicted.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the RJ group, the STA group showed down-regulation of 13 miRNAs in the PBMCs. Of these down-regulated miRNAs, miRNA-18b, miRNA-340 and miRNA-106b were validated by real-time PCR, and the latter two miRNAs were predicted to target the TGF-β pathway.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The differentially expressed miRNAs in liver transplant recipients with long-term stable survival, namely miRNA-18b, miRNA-340 and miRNA-106b, can be potential clinical biomarkers to predict the outcomes of liver transplantation.</p>