MicroRNA-141-3p attenuates oxidative stress-induced hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury via Keap1/Nrf2 pathway

Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major factor affecting the prognosis of liver transplantation through a series of severe cell death and inflammatory responses. However, the potential role of miR-141-3p in hepatic IRI is currently unknown.

Our results indicate that miR-141-3p plays a major role in hepatic IRI through the Keap1 signaling pathway, and the present study suggests that miR-141-3p might have a protective effect on hepatic IRI to some extent.

We collected the serum of liver transplantation patients to study the relationship between miR-141-3p and liver injury. A mouse hepatic IRI model was established to measure hepatic dysfunction and cell apoptosis. MiR-141-3p mimic and inhibitor were transfected into hepatocytes to explore the characteristics of hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R), a classical hepatic IRI in vitro model.

We found that miR-141-3p levels were negatively correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in liver transplantation patients. The results demonstrated that miR-141-3p was decreased in mouse liver tissue after hepatic IRI in mice and in hepatocytes after H/R. Overexpression of miR-141-3p directly decreased Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) levels and attenuated cell apoptosis in vivo and in vitro, while inhibition of miR-141-3p facilitated apoptosis. Further experiments revealed that overexpression of miR-141-3p also attenuated oxidative stress-induced damage in hepatocytes under H/R conditions. Conclusions: Our results indicate that miR-141-3p plays a major role in hepatic IRI through the Keap1 signaling pathway, and the present study suggests that miR-141-3p might have a protective effect on hepatic IRI to some extent.