Modulation of miR-155 and miR-125b levels following lipopolysaccharide/TNF-α stimulation and their possible roles in regulating the response to endotoxin shock

We report here that miR-155 and miR-125b play a role in innate immune response. LPS stimulation of mouse Raw 264.7 macrophages resulted in the up-regulation of miR-155 and down-regulation of miR-125b levels. The same changes also occurred when C57BL/6 mice were i.p. injected with LPS. Furthermore, the levels of miR-155 and miR-125b in Raw 264.7 cells displayed oscillatory changes in response to TNF-alpha. These changes were impaired by pretreating the cells with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132, suggesting that these two microRNAs (miRNAs) may be at least transiently under the direct control of NF-kappa B transcriptional activity. We show that miR-155 most probably directly targets transcript coding for several proteins involved in LPS signaling such as the Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD), licB kinase epsilon (IKK epsilon), and the receptor (TNFR superfamily)interacting serine-threonine kinase I (Ripk1) while enhancing TNF-alpha translation. In contrast, miR-125b targets the 3'-untranslated region of TNF-alpha transcripts; therefore, its down-regulation in response to LPS may be required for proper TNF-alpha production. Finally, E mu-miR-155 transgenic mice produced higher levels of TNF-alpha when exposed to LPS and were hypersensitive to LPS/D-galactosamine-induced septic shock. Altogether, our data suggest that the LPS/TNF-alpha-dependent regulation of miR-155 and miR-125b may be implicated in the response to endotoxin shock, thus offering new targets for drug design.