MiR-216a-5p Suppresses the Proliferation, Invasion and Migration of Fibroblast-Like Synoviocyte in Rheumatoid Arthritis by Targeting Zinc Finger and BTB Domain-Containing Protein 2 (ZBTB2)

Abstract

MicroRNAs have been reported to be associated with the initiation and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). miR-216a-5p, one of the miRNAs, is involved in cancer cell proliferation, invasion and migration. However, the role of miR-216a-5p in RA remains to be explored. The expressions of miR-216a-5p and zinc finger and BTB domain-containing protein 2 (ZBTB2) in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) of RA or healthy controls were detected by qRT-PCR and western blot analysis. Transfection of overexpressed and silenced miR-216a-5p were performed to explore the functional role of miR-216a-5p in RA-FLS. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and transwell assay were employed to assess cell proliferation and cell invasion, respectively. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay was executed to verify the combination of miR-216a-5p and ZBTB2. The results showed that miR-216a-5p expression in RA-FLS was downregulated than healthy controls. Overexpres-sion of miR-216a-5p inhibited RA-FLS cell proliferation, invasion and migration, while miR-216a-5p silencing revealed the opposite results. In addition, ZBTB2 was identified to be a direct target of miR-216a-5p in RA-FLS and its expression was higher than that in healthy controls. Rescue experiments revealed that ZBTB2 overexpression reversed the effects of miR-216a-5p on the proliferation, invasion and migration of RA-FLS. These data indicated the suppressive role of miR-216a-5p in RA-FLS via the regulation of ZBTB2, suggesting that miR-216a-5p and ZBTB2 may be the new targets for the treatment of RA.