MicroRNA-20a-5p Ameliorates Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease via Inhibiting the Expression of CD36

• Main Authors: Xin Wang, Yan Ma, Long-Yan Yang, Dong Zhao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-12-01
• Series: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Subjects: fatty acid translocase CD36; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; microRNA-20a-5p; lipid; deposition
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.596329/full

Fatty acid translocase CD36 (CD36) plays an important role in the initiation and pathogenesis of chronic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The purpose of this study is to investigate the regulation of microRNA-20a-5p (miR-20a-5p) on CD36 in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Human plasma samples were obtained from NAFLD patients and healthy controls. Mice were fed with high-fat diet to induce an in vivo NAFLD model. Histology staining was performed to examine the morphology and lipid deposition of mouse liver tissue. Real-time PCR, dual-luciferase assay, and western blotting were employed to detect the relationship between miR-20a-5p and CD36. The expression level of miR-20a-5p was decreased in NAFLD patients, HFD mice, and free fatty acid (FFA)-treated HepG2 cells or primary mouse hepatocytes, accompanied by increased lipid production in hepatocytes. MiR-20a-5p suppressed the expression of CD36 to reduce lipid accumulation via binding to its 3’-untranslated region (UTR). However, under the condition of interference with CD36, further inhibition of miR-20a-5p would not cause lipid over-accumulation. In this study, we found that miR-20a-5p played a protective role in lipid metabolic disorders of NAFLD by targeting CD36, which indicated the prospect of miR-20a-5p as a biomarker and treatment target for NAFLD.