The inhibition of miR-101a-3p alleviates H/R injury in H9C2 cells by regulating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway

Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) is used as an in vivo model of ischemia/reperfusion injury, and myocardial ischemia can lead to heart disease. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent myocardial H/R injury to avoid the risk of heart disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether inhibiting microRNA (miR)-101a-3p attenuated H9C2 cell H/R injury, apoptosis mechanisms and key target proteins. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assays and flow cytometry using a cell apoptosis kit, respectively. The contents of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were detected using colorimetric assays. Dual luciferase assays were carried out to determine if miR-101a-3p inhibited Janus kinase (JAK)2. Western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR were used to determine proteins levels and mRNAs expression. It was found that the inhibition of miR-101a-3p increased the growth of H9C2 cells and decreased H9C2 cell apoptosis during H/R injury. The inhibition of miR-101a-3p reduced the amounts of CK and LDH in H/R model H9C2 cells. The inhibition of miR-101a-3p lowered the levels of Bax, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, but raised the levels of phosphorylated (p)-STAT3 and p-JAK2 in H9C2 cells subjected to H/R injury treatment. miR-101a-3p mimic was found to inhibit H9C2 cell viability, raise p-JAK2 level and slightly increase p-STAT3 during H/R injury. AG490 induced H9C2 cell apoptosis, and decreased the levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 during H/R injury. The data indicated that inhibiting miR-101a-3p reduced H/R damage in H9C2 cells and decreased apoptosis via Bax/Bcl-2 signaling during H/R injury. In addition, it was suggested that the inhibition of miR-101a-3p decreased H/R injury in H9C2 cell by regulating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.