Overexpression of PTEN regulated by miR-19b and miR-494 in the villous of recurrent spontaneous abortion patients

Abstract

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) can be attributed to multiple factors, and abnormal invasion and apoptosis of trophoblast cells have attracted extensive attention. Our study aimed to investigate the expression of PTEN and miRNAs with potential regulatory relationships in the placental villi of RSA patients. Nineteen RSA patients and sixteen healthy women at reproductive age undergoing induced abortion (IA) were enrolled in the present study. The expression of PTEN and miRNAs were investigated using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blotting, further verification between PTEN and potential miRNAs used cell culture and transfection, and luciferase activity assays were used to determine whether PTEN is directly regulated by potential miRNA. The results indicated that both PTEN mRNA and protein expression levels were upregulated in RSA patients, but a significant difference was only observed in protein expression level (p < 0.001). Through real-time PCR pre-scanning, the results of nine potential miRNAs revealed three significantly upregulated miRNAs (miR-494, miR-146a, and miR-21) and one significantly downregulated miRNA (miR-19b). The results of further verification regarding miR-19b and miR-494 suggested that upregulated miR-19b, cooperating with downregulated miRNA-494, could inhibit PTEN expression. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the overexpression of PTEN plays an important role in the pathogenesis of RSA, with miR-19b directly regulating PTEN and working with miR-494, all of which participating in abnormal effects of villous’ trophoblastic cell may be a critical event.