miRNA-769-5p and Smad2 Differential Expression in Patients with or without Oral cGVHD

Abstract Background: Oral chronic graft versus host disease (Oral cGVHD) affects the life quality of patient. But its pathogenesis is still unclear. MicroRNA (miRNA) involves in numerous pathologic and physiologic processes. Objective: To preliminarily observe the change of miRNAs in oral cGVHD. Methods: Peripheral venous blood was taken from 8 cases of oral cGVHD, 8 cases without oral cGVHD, and 8 cases of healthy control group to construct the miRNAs library by Illumina Hiseq 2500 platform. The expression of miRNA-769-5p was detected by qRT-PCR in each group with subjects adding to 15. The interactions between miRNA-769-5p and Smad2 mRNA was verified by dual-luciferase assay. qRT-PCR and ELISA was used to detect the mRNA and protein level of Smad2 in peripheral blood respectively. Results: All three groups expressed 518 miRNAs and 191 miRNAs showed significantly different expression. The expression of miRNA-769-5p was the higher in non-oral cGVHD patients than that in oral cGVHD patients, and were of certain value in the diagnosis of oral cGVHD. The levels of Smad2 mRNA and protein were higher in the oral cGVHD group than those without oral cGVHD. As a target of miRNA-769-5p, Smad2 mRNA was negatively related to it. Conclusion: Differential expression of miRNAs, especially miRNA-769-5p may be involved in oral cGVHD. High expression of circulating Smad2 may be associated with the oral cGVHD, which might be regulated by miRNA-769-5p.