ISSN: 1449-2288International Journal of Biological Sciences
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Int J Biol Sci 2011; 7(5):685-690. doi:10.7150/ijbs.7.685 This issue Cite
Letter
miR-21 Promotes Keratinocyte Migration and Re-epithelialization During Wound Healing
1. Model Organism Division, E-institutes of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, P.R. China
2. State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Genetic Laboratory of Development and Diseases, Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, P.R. China
Abstract
MicroRNAs involved in keratinocyte migration and wound healing are largely unknown. Here, we revealed the indispensable role of miR-21 in keratinocyte migration and in re-epithelialization during wound healing in mice. In HaCaT cell, miR-21 could be upregulated by TGF-β1. Similar to the effect of TGF-β1, miR-21 overexpression promoted keratinocyte migration. Conversely, miR-21 knockdown attenuated TGF-β1-induced keratinocyte migration, suggesting that miR-21 was essential for TGF-β-driven keratinocyte migration. Furthermore, we found that miR-21 was upregulated during wound healing, coincident with the temporal expression pattern of TGF-β1. Consistently, knockdown of endogenous miR-21 using a specific antagomir dramatically delayed re-epithelialization possibly due to the reduced keratinocyte migration. TIMP3 and TIAM1, direct targets of miR-21, were verified to be regulated by miR-21 in vitro and in vivo, indicating that these two molecules might contribute to miR-21-induced keratinocyte migration. Taken together, our results demonstrate that miR-21 promotes keratinocyte migration and boosts re-epithelialization during skin wound healing.
Keywords: miR-21, keratinocyte, migration, wound healing
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