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Research Paper|Volume 12, Issue 15|pp 15436—15445

MicroRNA-21-3p accelerates diabetic wound healing in mice by downregulating SPRY1

Yaohong Wu1, Kun Zhang2, Rong Liu3, Hexing Zhang3, Dong Chen3, Shuangqi Yu3, Wei Chen3, Song Wan3, Yi Zhang3, Zhiwei Jia4, Rongchun Chen1, Fan Ding3
  • 1Department of Orthopedics, The Affiliated Ganzhou Hospital of Nanchang University, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi, China
  • 2Department of Orthopedics, Wuhan Fourth Hospital, Puai Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430033, Hubei, China
  • 3Department of Orthopaedics, Puren Hospital, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, Hubei, China
  • 4Department of Orthopedics, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China
* Equal contribution
Received: May 2, 2020Accepted: June 9, 2020Published: July 7, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103610

Copyright © 2020 Wu et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

A variety of novel drugs and advanced therapeutic strategies have been developed for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs); however, the clinical outcomes are unsatisfactory and the underlying mechanisms of DFU remain elusive. MicroRNAs (miRNA) regulate the pathological processes of many diseases. Fibroblasts are involved in each stage of wound healing, and the functions of fibroblasts may be regulated by miRNAs. In the present study, we found that the levels of miRNA-21-3p (miR-21-3p) were decreased in patients with diabetes as compared with those in the healthy control. Similarly, the level of miRNA-21-3p was decreased in fibroblasts that were stimulated with D-glucose as compared with that in the control fibroblasts. Furthermore, enhanced function was found in fibroblasts followed by the miR-21-3p agonist treatment, and a rapid wound healing process was achieved in the miR-21-3p agonist-treated mice. MiR-21-3p directly targeted protein sprout homolog 1 (SPRY1), and the miR-21-3p-regulated reduction in SPRY1 enhanced the function of fibroblasts and accelerated wound healing in vivo. These findings suggest that miR-21-3p may treat DFU by reducing SPRY1.