In contrast to the miRNA-processing genes, Ago2 showed a significant increase (40%) at 3 hours. Because of their critical role in miRNA processing, protein levels of both Dicer and Drosha were studied by Western blot (Fig. 3B) and immunofluorescence in 3-, 18-, and 72-hour 5-Fluoracil supplier samples (Fig. 3C). Expression of both proteins was decreased in PH samples, compared with sham, and correlated with changes in mRNA

levels. There were no detectable differences in immunofluorescence, however, between PH and sham for Dicer at 3 and 72 hours and for Drosha at 72 hours (data not shown). These data support the notion that the genomewide miRNA down-regulation occurring at times later than 3 hours post-PH is likely the result of an early repression of genes responsible for processing miRNAs. The above studies indicated that the miRNA-processing gene Rnasen, Dgcr8, Dicer, Tarbp2, and Prkra transcripts were down-regulated

at 3 and/or 24 hours in hepatectomized animals. This occurred concurrently with the genomewide down-regulation in the majority of miRNAs at 24 hours post-PH. However, let-7 was up-regulated at 3 hours (Fig. 2A), and it was previously reported that U0126 molecular weight the let-7 family of miRNAs can target and reduce Dicer expression.29, 30 Therefore, we hypothesized that a negative feedback loop, mediated by the up-regulated miRNAs at 3 hours, was a potential mechanism involved in the down-regulation of these miRNA-processing genes. To test our hypothesis, the complete 3′UTRs of human RNASEN, DGCR8, DICER, PRKRA, and TARBP2 were inserted after a luciferase reporter cDNA to monitor miRNA activities. Based on TargetScan predictions, we selected 11 candidate miRNAs or miRNA clusters, which were also up-regulated at 3 hours post-PH and could potentially target the medchemexpress 3′UTRs of the five miRNA-processing genes for further studies (Supporting Table 4). The targeting

sites of these miRNAs on the 3′UTRs of the five miRNA-processing genes are conserved between humans and rats. All 11 miRNAs or miRNA clusters were cloned into the pcDNA3.1 vector, and constructs of pcDNA3.1-miR and luciferase-3′UTR reporter were cotransfected into human hepatoma Huh-7 cells. Using this luciferase reporter system, with Dicer1 and let-7a as positive controls, we found that expression of all five genes could be regulated by a subset of these miRNAs or clusters (Fig. 4A). With Dicer1 as an example, we selected nine miRNAs, including let-7, miR-17-92 cluster, and miR-21, which were overexpressed at 3 hours and could potentially target Dicer mRNA. We found that overexpression of seven of these nine candidate miRNAs could target the Dicer 3′UTR, resulting in a significant decrease in luciferase expression, including let-7, consistent with previous reports.29, 30 To confirm the effects of these miRNAs on the processing genes, we also attempted to inhibit them with miRNA antagonists.