The summaries are free for public
use. The Chronic Liver Disease
Foundation will continue to add and
archive summaries of articles deemed
relevant to CLDF by the Board of
Trustees and its Advisors.
Abstract Details
Hepatitis C virus induced up-regulation of microRNA-27: A novel mechanism for hepatic steatosis
Singaravelu R, Chen R, Lyn RK, Jones DM, O'Hara S, Rouleau Y, Cheng J, Srinivasan P, Nasheri N, Russell RS, Lorne D, Pezacki JP. Hepatology. 2013 Jul 29. doi: 10.1002/hep.26634. [Epub ahead of print]
Source
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ottawa, ontario, Canada, K1N 6N5; National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0R6.
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. Their aberrant expression is commonly linked with diseased states, including hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Herein, we demonstrate that HCV replication induces the expression of miR-27 in cell culture and in vivo HCV infectious models. Overexpression of the HCV proteins core and NS4B independently activates miR-27 expression. Furthermore, we establish that miR-27b overexpression in hepatocytes results in larger and more abundant lipid droplets, as observed by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. This hepatic lipid droplet accumulation coincides with miR-27b's repression of PPAR-α and ANGPTL3, known regulators of triglyceride homeostasis. We further demonstrate that treatment with a PPAR-α agonist, bezafibrate, is able to reverse the miR-27b-induced lipid accumulation in Huh7 cells. This miR-27b mediated repression of PPAR-α signaling represents a novel mechanism of HCV-induced hepatic steatosis. This link was further demonstrated in vivo through the correlation between miR-27b expression levels and hepatic lipid accumulation in HCV infected SCID-beige/Alb-uPa mice. Conclusion: Collectively, our results highlight HCV's up-regulation of miR-27 expression as a novel mechanism contributing to the development of hepatic steatosis.