The silencing effect of miR-30a on ITGA4 gene expression in vitro : an approach for gene therapy

Integrins are adhesion molecules which play crucial roles in cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Very late antigen-4 or α4β1 and lymphocyte Peyer's patch adhesion molecule-1 or α4β7, are key factors in the invasion of tumor cells and metastasis. Based on the previous reports, integrin α4 ( ) is overexpressed in some immune disorders and cancers. Thus, inhibition of could be a therapeutic strategy. In the present study, miR-30a was selected in order to suppress expression. The 3' UTR was amplified, cloned in the Z2827-M67-( ) plasmid and named as Z2827-M67/3'UTR. HeLa cells were divided into five groups; (1) untreated without any transfection, (2) mock with Z2827-M67/3'UTR transfection and X-tremeGENE reagent, (3) negative control with Z2827-M67/3'UTR transfection alone, (4) test with miR-30a mimic and Z2827-M67/3'UTR transfection and (5) scramble with miR-30a scramble and Z2827-M67/3'UTR transfection. The MTT assay was performed to evaluate cell survival and cytotoxicity in each group. Real-time RT-PCR was applied for the expression analysis. The findings of this study showed that miR-30a downregulated expression and had no effect on the cell survival. Due to the silencing effect of miR-30a on the gene expression, this agent could be considered as a potential tool for cancer and immune disorders therapy.