miR-125b regulates procalcitonin production in monocytes by targeting Stat3

Sepsis is a leading cause of mortality in clinical infection, early identification and intervention is critical to improve its outcomes. Nonetheless, it is difficult to determine whether the cause of inflammation in patients is of bacterial origin at early stage. Procalcitonin (PCT) is considered as a promising marker in clinical laboratory test of bacterial infection. But the details for the regulation of PCT expression are not fully understood. miR-125b is important to immune system development and immunological host defense, while its role in the regulation of PCT production remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that the expression of PCT is regulated by miR-125b in human monocytes. miR-125b modulates PCT expression by manipulating the amount and transcriptional activity of Stat3.