Elevated MicroRNA-181a-5p Contributes to Trophoblast Dysfunction and Preeclampsia

It has been demonstrated that preeclampsia is associated with alterations in placental microRNA expression. Previous reports have shown that hsa-miR-181a-5p is overexpressed in human preeclamptic placenta compared with normotensive placenta. The purpose of this study was to explore whether upregulated hsa-miR-181a-5p expression is involved in the ontogenesis of preeclampsia.

Twenty preeclamptic placentas and 20 normotensive placentas were obtained from nulliparous women by cesarean section. Expression of hsa-miR-181a-5p in placenta tissues and human trophoblast cell lines was analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The trophoblast cell lines (HTR-8/SVneo and JAR) were transfected with specific oligonucleotides to upregulate miR-181a-5p expression. The effect of miR-181a-5p expression on proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, and invasion in HTR-8/SVneo and JAR cells was then investigated.

It was demonstrated that hsa-miR-181a-5p expression was upregulated in preeclamptic placentas and that it may trigger antiproliferation and inhibition of cell cycle progression, induce apoptosis, and suppress invasion in HTR-8/SVneo and JAR cells.

Anomalously upregulated hsa-miR-181a-5p expression could contribute to trophoblast dysfunction and may be a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.