miR-30e is negatively regulated by myostatin in skeletal muscle and is functionally related to fiber-type composition

Myostatin (MSTN) negatively regulates skeletal myogenesis in which microRNAs (miRNAs) also play critical roles. Using miRNA microarrays of skeletal muscle from MSTN-knockout (MSTN-/-) mice, we recently showed that miR-431 is regulated by MSTN signaling. To identify additional miRNAs regulated by MSTN, we re-analyzed these miRNA arrays and validated their expression by quantitative RT-PCR. Herein, we demonstrated that miR-30e was significantly upregulated in skeletal muscle of MSTN-/- mice compared with that of the wild-type littermates. Importantly, the predicted targets of miR-30e are functionally involved in myocyte differentiation and fiber-type formation. Using luciferase reporter gene assays, we further showed that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha (Pgc1α), is a direct target of miR-30e. Overexpression of miR-30e in C2C12 cells significantly decreased Pgc1α and increased type II form of myosin heavy chain gene expression, suggesting that miR-30e functionally associates with glycolytic myofiber formation. Thus, our data indicate that the altered fiber-type composition in MSTN-/- mice are attributable in part to deregulated expression of miR-30e.