Overexpression of Lin28B Promoted the Proliferation of Adenomyotic Smooth Muscle Cells of the Junctional Zone via Regulating Let-7a

The inner myometrium, also called the junctional zone (JZ), is believed to play a major role in the development of adenomyosis. Recently, we found that the lethal-7a (Let-7a) microRNA (miRNA) was clearly downregulated in the miRNA expression profiles of JZ smooth muscle cells (JZSMCs) of patients with adenomyosis. Lin28, including Lin28A and Lin28B, is responsible for the post-transcriptional downregulation of the Let-7 miRNA family. However, the expression pattern of Lin28 and the function of the Lin28/Let-7 axis in adenomyosis have not yet been identified. In this study, we aim to explore the potential roles of the Lin28/Let-7 axis in the development of adenomyosis. Immunohistochemistry, western blot, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to evaluate the Lin28 expression, respectively. The correlation between Let-7a, Lin28A, and Lin28B expression was further examined using Pearson’s correlation analysis. RNA interference was used to inhibit Lin28B gene, and then Cell Counting Kit (CCK-8) assay was performed to detect the cell proliferation capacity. The results revealed that the expression levels of Lin28B were upregulated in the JZ of adenomyosis whatever about proteins or mRNA (P < 0.0001); furthermore, its mRNA expression level was negatively correlated with Let-7a (r = − 0.749, P < 0.0001). After inhibiting Lin28B gene, the proliferation capacity of JZSMCs in adenomyosis group decreased after 48 h (P < 0.05). These results indicated that Lin28B may be involved in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis by promoting the proliferation capacity of JZSMCs via regulating Let-7a. Similar content being viewed by others

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García-Solares J, Donnez J, et al. Pathogenesis of uterine adenomyosis: invagination or metaplasia? Fertil Steril. 2018;109(3):371–9. Funding The present study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81571412), Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support (grant no. ZYLX201406), and the Basic-Clinic Cooperation Fund of Capital Medical University (grant no. 16JL44). Author information Authors and Affiliations Contributions Si-Li Lin performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. Hua Duan made substantial contributions to the conception and experimental design. Sha Wang and Jin-Jiao Li participated in analyzing the data. All authors approved the final version of the article. Corresponding author Ethics declarations This study was strictly carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University (approval no. 2016-KY-012). All participants signed informed consent before surgery. Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Additional information Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Lin, SL., Duan, H., Wang, S. et al. Overexpression of Lin28B Promoted the Proliferation of Adenomyotic Smooth Muscle Cells of the Junctional Zone via Regulating Let-7a. Reprod. Sci. 27, 1156–1163 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00107-3 Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00107-3