Differentially Expressed MicroRNAs in TGFβ2-induced Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells plays a key role in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), both of which lead to severe loss of vision. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be involved in the regulation of various physiological and pathological processes, such as embryogenesis, organ development, oncogenesis and angiogenesis. However, the expression profile and function of miRNAs in the EMT of RPE cells remain to be clarified. In this study, human miRNA expression profiles were identified using microarrays and 304 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in TGFβ2-induced EMT in human RPE cells. Of these differentially expressed miRNAs, 185 miRNAs were downregulated and 119 miRNAs were upregulated at least 2-fold in TGFβ2 treatment samples. Similar alterations of miRNA expression were validated for 35 representative miRNAs by quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. Therefore, these results suggested that differentially expressed miRNAs play potential roles in TGFβ2-induced EMT in RPE cells. This is an essential step in the identification of miRNAs associated with PVR and PDR progression, and in the identification of potential therapeutic targets for these diseases.