Description
The molecular mechanisms of acute lung injury are incompletely understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial biological regulators that act by suppressing their target genes and are involved in a variety of pathophysiologic processes. MiR-127 appeared to be down-regulated during lung injury. We set out to investigate the role of miR-127 in lung injury and inflammation. Expression of miR-127 significantly reduced cytokine release by macrophages. Looking into the mechanisms of the regulation of inflammation by miR-127, we found that IgG Fc Receptor I (FcRI/CD64) was a target of miR-127, as evidenced by reduced CD64 protein expression in macrophages over-expressing miR-127. Furthermore, miR-127 significantly reduced the luciferase activity with a reporter construct containing the native 3-UTR of CD64. Importantly, we demonstrated that miR-127 attenuated lung inflammation in an IgG immune complex (IgG IC) model in vivo. Collectively, these data show that miR-127 targets macrophage CD64 expression and promotes the reduction of lung inflammation. Understanding how miRNAs regulate lung inflammation may represent an attractive way to control inflammation induced by infectious or non-infectious lung injury.