3.3 The expression levels of miR-24 and miR-27 in non-atopic INS patients.
It has previously been shown that miR-24 and miR-27 have important effects on Th2 cells expression. Because we saw decreased expression of Th2 cells in active non-atopic INS, we wanted to determine whether the associated miRNAs were also decreased. As shown in Figure 3, the levels of miR-24 and miR-27 were significantly downregulated compared to controls during the active phase of non-atopic INS (miR-24: (21.84±6.86 vs. 46.03±10.08 ) ×10-3, P < 0.05; miR-27: (20.72±4.93 vs. 37.83±6.83)×10-3, P< 0.05). MiR-24 and miR-27 were remarkably upregulated in the remission group , but not up to control levels (miR-24: (35.59±9.10) ×10-3, P < 0.05; miR-27: (32.55±7.86)×10-3, P < 0.05).
3.4 MiR-24 and miR-27 negative regulated the expressions of Th2 cells.
To further determine the relationship between miR-24、miR-27 and Th2 cells, we transfected PBMCs isolated from healthy volunteers and active non-atopic INS with with a miRNA negative control (Ctrl-m), a miR-24/miR-27 mimic (miR-24-m, miR-27-m), a miRNA inhibitor negative control (Ctrl-i), or a miR-24/miR-27 inhibitor (miR-24-i, miR-27-i). Up regulating the expression of miR-24(Fig. 4A; Fig. 4B;) and miR-27(Fig. 5A; Fig. 5B), the frequency of Th2 cells(Fig. 4C, D; Fig. 5C,D) and the expression of IL-4 mRNA(Fig. 4E, F; Fig. 5E, F) were all down regulated. On the contrary, down regulating the expression of miR-24(Fig. 4G; Fig. 4H) and miR-27(Fig. 5G; Fig. 5H), the frequency of Th2 cells(Fig. 4I, J; Fig. 5I, J) and the expressions of IL-4 mRNA(Fig. 4K, L; Fig. 5K, L) were all up regulated.