Decreased MiR-128-3p alleviates the progression of rheumatoid arthritis by up-regulating the expression of TNFAIP3

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a inflammatory disease that characterized with the destruction of synovial joint, which could induce disability. Inflammatory response mediated the RA. It has been reported that MiR-128-3p is significantly increased in RA, while the potential role was still unclear. Methods: T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) were isolated from the peripheral blood from people of RA and normal person were used. Real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of MiR-128-3p, while the protein expression of tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) was determined using Western blot. The levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of CD69 and CD25 was detected using flow cytometry. The RA mouse model was constructed for verification of the role of MiR-128-3p. Results: The expression of MiR-128-3p was significantly increased, while TNFAIP3 was decreased, the levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were also increased in the T cells of RA patients. Down-regulated MiR-128-3p significantly suppressed the expression of p-IkBα and CD69, and CD25in T cells. MiR-128-3p targets TNFAIP3 to regulate its expression. MiR-128-3p knockdown significantly suppressed the activity of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and T cells by up-regulating TNFAIP3, while cells co-transfected with si-TNFAIP3 abolished the effects of MiR-128-3p knockdown. The in vivo experiments verified the potential role of MiR-128-3p on RA. Conclusion: Down-regulated MiR-128-3p significantly suppressed the inflammation response of RA through suppressing the activity of NF-κB pathway, which was mediated by TNFAIP3.