Promotive role of microRNA-150 in hippocampal neurons apoptosis in vascular dementia model rats

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is one of the primary features of vascular dementia (VD). However, the specific mechanism underlying the regulation of cognition function in VD is not completely understood. The present study aimed to explore the effects of microENA (miE)-150 on VD. To determine the effects of miE-150 on cognitive function and hippocampal neurons in VD model rats, rats were subjected to intracerebroventricular injections of miE-150 antagomiE. The Morris water maze test results demonstrated that spatial learning ability was impaired in VD model rats compared with control rats. Moreover, compared with antagomiE nega- tive control (NC), miE-150 antagomiE alleviated cognitive impairment and enhanced memory ability in VD model rats. The triphenyltetrazolium chloride, Nissl staining and immu- nohistochemistry results further demonstrated that miE-150 knockdown improved the activity of hippocampal neurons in VD model rats compared with the antagomiE NC group. To validate the role of miE-150 in neurons in vitro, the PC12 cell line was used. The flow cytometry and Hoechst 33342/PI double staining results indicated that miE-150 overexpression significantly increased cell apoptosis compared with the mimic NC group. Moreover, the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay results indicated that miE-150 targeted HOXA1 and negatively regulated HOXA1 expression. Therefore, the present study indicated that miE-150 knockdown ameliorated VD symptoms by upregulating HOXA1 expression in vivo and in vitro.