MicroRNA-214 Protects Cardiac Myocytes Against H2O2-Induced Injury

Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced cardiac myocyte injury resulting from changes in the expression levels of multiple genes plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of numerous heart diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential roles of microRNA-214 (miR-214) in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-mediated gene regulation in cardiac myocytes. In this study, we used quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) to demonstrate that miR-214 was upregulated in cardiac myocytes after treatment with H2O2. We transfected cells with pre-miR-214 to upregulate miR-214 expression and transfected cells with a miR-214 inhibitor (anti-miR-214) to downregulate miR-214 expression. H2O2-induced cardiac cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The level of apoptosis was increased by the miR-214 inhibitor and decreased by pre-miR-214. Therefore, we believe that miR-214 plays a positive role in H2O2-induced cardiac cell apoptosis. Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is constitutively active and is considered to be the primary downregulator of the pro-oncogenic PI3K/Akt pathway. Western blot analysis revealed that the expression of the PTEN protein in cardiac myocytes decreased after H2O2 induction. Anti-miR-214 increased PTEN protein expression level, in contrast, pre-miR-214 decreased the PTEN protein expression level in cultured cardiac myocytes. These results indicate that PTEN is regulated by miR-214 and serves as an important target of miR-214 in cardiac myocytes. In conclusion, miR-214 is sensitive to H2O2 stimulation, and miR-214 protects cardiac myocytes against H2O2-induced injury via one of its targets, PTEN.