MicroRNA-325-3p prevents sevoflurane-induced learning and memory impairment by inhibiting Nupr1 and C/EBPβ/IGFBP5 signaling in rats

Endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced neuronal apoptosis contributes to neurotoxicity observed after sevoflurane exposure. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the resulting learning and memory impairments remains unknown. Here, we investigated the roles of miR-325-3p and Nupr1 in sevoflurane-induced learning and memory impairments in neonatal rats and HCN-2 human cortical neuronal cells. We found that in both neonatal rats and HCN-2 cells, sevoflurane exposure impairs learning and memory in neonatal rats and increases expression of Nupr1, the endoplasmic reticulum stress marker proteins C/EBPβ and IGFBP5, and the apoptosis-related protein markers cleaved-Caspase-3 and Bax. Using bioinformatics tools to identify microRNAs that bind to Nupr1, we found that miR-325-3p is downregulated in hippocampal neurons exposed to sevoflurane. Moreover, Nupr1 knockdown and miR-325-3p overexpression improved the rats’ performance in learning and memory tests and reduced sevoflurane-induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that miR-325-3p blocks sevoflurane-induced learning and memory impairments by inhibiting Nupr1 and the downstream C/EBPβ/IGFBP5 signaling axis in neonatal rats. MiR-325-3p may therefore be a useful therapeutic target in sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity.