miR-137 Affects Vaginal Lubrication in Female Sexual Dysfunction by Targeting Aquaporin-2

INTRODUCTION: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a common disease with serious potential hazards, but it has not received much attention. The pathogenesis of FSD is urgently needed for the diagnosis and treatment of FSD. AIM: To investigate the role of microribonucleic acid (mRNA, miR)-137 in FSD. METHODS: Vaginal epithelium tissues from 15 women with lubrication disorder and 15 women with normal function were collected for this study. The expression level of miR-137 in lubrication disorder and normal function women were measured by microarray analysis and Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR, qPCR). miR-137 was overexpressed in vaginal epithelial cells VK2/E6E7 by lentivirus infection. The cell water permeability was measured using the calcein-quenching method. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. The potential target of miR-137 was predicted by bioinformatic analysis, then verified by luciferase reporter assays. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The expression level of miR-137 and aquaporin-2 (AQP2), cell water permeability, cell apoptosis, and luciferase reporter assays were examined. RESULTS: miR-137 was found to be highly expressed in vaginal epithelial tissues of women with lubrication disorder. Additionally, functional in vitro studies suggested that overexpression of miR-137 leads to a decrease in cell permeability. By combining target prediction and examination, we identified AQP2 as the direct mechanistic target of miR-137 that affected the water permeability of vaginal epithelial cells. CONCLUSION: Our results point to a novel role for miR-137 and its downstream effector AQP2 in vaginal lubrication, which can be manipulated as therapeutic targets against lubrication disorder and its related disorders. Zhang H, Liu T, Zhou Z. miR-137 affects vaginal lubrication in female sexual dysfunction by targeting Aquaporin-2. Sex Med 2018;6:339–347.