Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (Apr 2021)

LncRNA-PVT1 activates lung fibroblasts via miR-497-5p and is facilitated by FOXM1

  • Yan Li,
  • Wenqing Sun,
  • Honghong Pan,
  • Jiali Yuan,
  • Qi Xu,
  • Tiantian Xu,
  • Ping Li,
  • Demin Cheng,
  • Yi Liu,
  • Chunhui Ni

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 213
p. 112030

Abstract

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It is little known about the lncRNA-PVT1 effect on occupational pulmonary fibrosis, although researches show it plays an essential role in cancer. Studies reveal that lung fibroblast activation is one of the key events in silica-induced fibrosis. Here, we found that lncRNA-PVT1 promoted the proliferation, activation, and migration of lung fibroblasts. The isolation of cytoplasmic and nuclear RNA assay and fluorescence in situ hybridization experiment showed that lncRNA-PVT1 was abundantly expressed in the cytoplasm. Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA pull-down experiment indicated that the cytoplasmic-localized lncRNA-PVT1 could competitively bind miR-497-5p. MiR-497-5p was further observed to attenuate silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis by targeting Smad3 and Bcl2. Moreover, the transcription factor FOXM1 acted as a profibrotic factor by elevating lncRNA-PVT1 transcription in lung fibroblasts. Inhibition of FOXM1 expression with thiostrepton alleviated silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis in vivo. Collectively, we revealed that FOXM1-facilitated lncRNA-PVT1 activates lung fibroblasts via miR-497-5p during silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis, which may provide potential therapeutic targets for pulmonary fibrosis.

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