MiR-608 overexpression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)

Abstract Background Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive disease that causes scarring of the lungs. The disease is associated with the usual interstitial pneumonia pattern, which was not yet fully recapitulated by an animal model. Therefore, the disease is considered ‘human specific’. miRNA-608 is a primate specific miRNA with many potential targets, such CdC42 and Interlukin-6 (IL-6) that were previously implicated in IPF pathology. Objective To test miR-608 expression and its targets in IPF patient samples. Methods RNA was extracted from Formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections (N = 18). miRNA-608 and Cdc42 and IL-6 levels were analyzed by qPCR. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is another target of miRNA-608. Its’ rs17228616 allele has a single-nucleotide polymorphism causing weakened miR-608 interaction (C2098A). Thus, DNA was extracted from whole blood samples from 56 subjects with fibrosing interstitial lung disease and this region was sequenced for assessment of rs17228616 allele polymorphism. Results miR-608 is significantly overexpressed in IPF samples in comparison with controls (p