<i>MiR-375</i> attenuates injury of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion via targetting Ctgf

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of disability and deaths worldwide. MiRNAs have been shown to play an important role in development and pathogenesis of the nervous system. However, the precise function and mechanism of miRNAs are not fully understood in the brain injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Herein, our study showed that <i>miR-375</i> expression was significantly down-regulated in the rat I/R brain. With the <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> I/R stroke models, we found that <i>miR-375</i> mimic provides significant protection from injury to cerebral I/R, which is reflected by reduced infarct volumes and cell apoptosis, and increased proliferation and migration of PC12 cells. Mechanistically, our findings showed that <i>miR-375</i> binds to 3'-UTR region of <i>Ctgf</i> mRNA, subsequently leading to the decreased expression of Ctgf in the I/R brain. Furthermore, we showed that <i>miR-375</i>/Ctgf-mediated protective effects are associated with p21/PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. Our findings thus provide a new insight into the mechanism of cerebral I/R injury and pave a potential new way for the therapy of cerebral I/R injury.