Objective: Abnormal cell growth and invasion are known to be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). Previous studies have shown that miR-1271-5p promotes cell proliferation and migration. However, the expression and function of miR-1271-5p in PE still remains unclear.
Materials and Methods: The expression of miR-1271-5p was detected from blood serum from pregnant and placental tissues. Silence or overexpression of miR-1271-5p in HTR8/SVneo cells. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect miR-1271-5p expression. Cell proliferation and invasion were determined using separately MTT assay Wound-scratch healing assay.
Results: In this study, we identified a downregulation in miR-1271-5p in blood samples and placentas of PE patients compared to healthy pregnant controls. In addition, overexpression of miR-1271-5p promoted trophoblast cell proliferation and invasion, while depletion of miR-1271-5p reduced these effects. Importantly, we revealed that grainyhead-like protein 2 homolog (Grhl2), which could inhibit proliferation and migration of trophoblast cells, was a direct target gene of miR-1271-5p in primary trophoblast cells and HTR-8/SVneo cells. Furthermore, Our results showed that Grhl2 bound to the cell adhesion molecule L1-like protein (CHL1) promoter and regulated it transcription in trophoblast cells.
Conclusion: Grhl2-mediated effects of miR-1271-5p on cell invasion and proliferation of trophoblast cells by promoting CHL1 transcription. The miR-1271-5p/Grhl2/CHL1 axis potentially provides a new therapeutic target for PE.