Down-Regulation Of Mir-34a Promotes The Cell Proliferation And Inhibits Apoptosis In Glaucoma

Increasing evidence has reported the pivotal roles of miRNA in various diseases, including glaucoma. However, few have reported the roles of miR-34a in glaucoma progression. This study was aimed to investigate the potential effect of miR-34a expression on HTM and GTM cell proliferation and apoptosis and to explore the possible mechanism. The mRNA expression of miR-34a in HTM and GTM cells was detected using RT-PCR. The influences of miR-34a suppression on cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed using MTT and Annexin V-FITC assay respectively. Besides, effect of miR-34a on cell apoptosis-related protein expression was assessed using western blotting. Compared with the HTM cells, miR-34a was highly expressed in GTM cells. Subsequently, cell viability for both HTM and GTM cells was significantly increased by silencing miR-34a. The percentage of apoptotic GTM cells was significantly declined by silencing miR-34a. However, the HTM apoptosis cells were slightly but not significantly decreased by silencing miR-34a. Moreover, cell apoptosis-related protein including SIRT1 and Bcl-2 were significantly increased while Ac-p53 level was significantly decreased by silencing miR-34a. Taken together, our study suggested that miR-34a suppression may play pivotal roles in preventing HTM from transforming to GTM during glaucoma progression through regulating the cell proliferation and apoptosis. Our study may provide theoretical basis for the target therapeutic treatment of miR-34a in glaucoma.