CFTR mediates bicarbonate-dependent activation of miR-125b in preimplantation embryo development

摘要

Although HCO3-is known to be required for early embryo development,its exact role remains elusive.Here we report that HCO3-acts as an environmental cue in regulating miR-125b expression through CFTR-mediated influx during preimplantation embryo development.The results show that the effect of HCO3-on preimplantation embryo development can be suppressed by interfering the function of a HCO3--conducting channel,CFTR,by a specific inhibitor or gene knockout.Removal of extracellular HCO3-or inhibition of CFTR reduces miR-125b expression in 2 cell-stage mouse embryos.Knockdown of miR-125b mimics the effect of HCO3-removal and CFTR inhibition,while injection of miR-125b precursor reverses it.Downregulation of miR-125b upregulates p53 cascade in both human and mouse embryos.The activation of miR-125b is shown to be mediated by sAC/PKA-dependent nuclear shuttling of NF-KB.These results have revealed a critical role of CFTR in signal transduction linking the environmental HCO3-to activation of miR-125b during preimplantation embryo development and indicated the importance of ion channels in regulation of miRNAs.