AUTHOR=Sun Li , Xu Aiqun , Li Min , Xia Xingyuan , Li Pulin , Han Rui , Fei Guanghe , Zhou Sijing , Wang Ran 

TITLE=Effect of Methylation Status of lncRNA-MALAT1 and MicroRNA-146a on Pulmonary Function and Expression Level of COX2 in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.667624

DOI=10.3389/fcell.2021.667624

ISSN=2296-634X

ABSTRACT=This study aimed to investigate the role of methylation of MALAT1 and miR-146a in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD patients were grouped according to their methylation status of MALAT1 and miR-146a promoters and we found that FVC, FEV1 and DLCO were the highest in the MALAT1 HYPO + miR-146a HYPER group and lowest in the MALAT1 HYPER + miR-146a HYPO group. And COPD patients with hypermethylated MALAT1 showed lower expression of MALAT1 than that in the COPD patients with hypomethylated MALAT1. Meanwhile, miR-146a was the most significantly upregulated in the MALAT1 HYPER + miR-146a HYPO group and most significantly down-regulated in the MALAT1 HYPO + miR-146a HYPER group. Both PGE1 and COX2 expression were the highest in the MALAT1 HYPO + miR-146a HYPER group and the lowest in the MALAT1 HYPER + miR-146a HYPO group. In conclusion, our results established a MALAT1/miR-146a/COX2 signaling axis. The overexpression of MALAT1 could increase the expression of COX2 by inhibiting the expression of miR-146a, thus affecting the pulmonary function of COPD patients.