Development of liver fibrosis therapy targeting hepatic stellate cells by microRNA

鉴定了一些对星状细胞的激活和胶原产生重要的microRNAs。其中，miR-29b是I型胶原mRNA和蛋白表达的调节因子之一。此外，miR-29b在体外激活的小鼠星状细胞中表达下调。在小鼠星状细胞中过表达miR-29b不仅降低了I型胶原mRNA和蛋白的表达，而且还抑制了星状细胞的激活。我们认为miR-29b的靶基因不仅是胶原蛋白1A1，还包括星状细胞激活相关基因。

Some microRNAs important for activation and collagen production of stellate cells were identified. Among them, we showed that miR-29b is one of regulators of type I collagen mRNA and protein expression. Moreover, miR-29b downregulated in mouse activated stellate cells in vitro. Overexpression of miR-29b in mouse stellate cells not only decreased type I collagen mRNA and protein expression, but also inhibited stellate cell activation. We suggested that targeted genes of miR-29b were not only collagen 1A1 but stellate cell activation-related genes.