Wenxiu Jiang,1 Chun Zhou,1 Chengxin Ma,2 Yujie Cao,1 Guohong Hu,2 Huabin Li1

1 Allergy Center, Department of Otolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
2 The Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Abstract

Background: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in nasal epithelial cells is involved in tissue remodeling of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). Our study investigated the molecular mechanisms that microRNA-182 (miR‑182) regulated EMT in eosinophilic (Eos) and non-eosinophilic (non-Eos) CRSwNP.
Objective: To investigate the mechanism by which miR-182 regulates EMT in human nasal epithelial cells (hNEPCs).
Methods: The expression of EMT markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and miR-182 were determined by western blotting and reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect the miR-182 localization. Additionally, EMT markers expression and cell morphology changes were checked upon treatment with TGF-β1, or TGF-β1 with miR-182 inhibitor, or miR-182 mimics, or miR-182 inhibitor alone in hNEPCs.
Results: In both Eos CRSwNP and non-Eos CRSwNP, the expression levels of E-cadherin were downregulated while the expression levels of N-cadherin, vimentin, TGF-β1 and miR-182 were significantly upregulated compared with control nasal tissues. Additionally, more significant changes in these EMT markers were observed in the Eos-CRSwNP when compared with the non-Eos CRSwNP. Invitro hNEPCs model, TGF-β1 upregulated miR-182 expression and promoted EMT in hNEPCs, indicated by changes in cell morphology and EMT markers expression. Furthermore, these upregulations were reversed by miR-182 inhibitor.
Conclusion: This study showed that miR-182-induced EMT in response to TGF-β1 might promote nasal polypogenesis in both Eos CRSwNP and non-Eos CRSwNP, thus providing potential targets for the future development of novel therapeutic approaches for the management of CRSwNP.
Key words: Eosinophilic/non-Eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, MicroRNA-182, Epithelial-mesenchymal transition, Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1