miR-31 regulates interleukin 2 and kinase suppressor of ras 2 during T cell activation

MicroRNA (miRNA) has an important role as a master regulator of gene expression in immune system and is upregulated during T cell differentiation, however its function is not clear yet. In this study, the contribution of miR-31 in T cell activation was investigated. miR-31 was upregulated during the activation of primary T lymphocytes upon T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation. Ectopic expression of miR-31 increased the expression of interleukin (IL)-2, while knockdown of endogenous miR-31 decreased the IL-2 expression. To gain more insights into the regulatory mechanism, we performed a bioinformatic analysis and found miR-31 potentially targeted kinase suppressor of ras 2 (KSR2), a repression factor of Ras2 kinase. Using reporter gene and western blotting assays, we confirmed that miR-31 could inhibit KSR2 by directly targeting its 3' untranslated region (UTR). Moreover, miR-31 enhanced nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT) activity in Jurkat T cells, and increased transcription activity of IL-2 promoter in primary T cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that miR-31 upregulated IL-2 expression via reduction of its up-stream kinase suppressor, KSR2, and is a component of T cell activation.