MicroRNA-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms are associated with pediatric uveitis.

• Main Authors: Lin Wei, Qingyun Zhou, Shengping Hou, Lin Bai, Yunjia Liu, Jian Qi, Qin Xiang, Yan Zhou, Aize Kijlstra, Peizeng Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24658012/?tool=EBI

<h4>Background</h4>MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) was a key negative regulator of autoimmunity. V-Ets oncogene homolog 1 (Ets-1) was demonstrated to bind to the miR-146a promoter region and markedly affects miR-146a promoter activity. This study aimed to investigate the association of miR-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms with pediatric uveitis in a Han Chinese population.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>A total of 520 patients and 1204 healthy controls were included in the present study. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), miR-146a/rs2910164, miR-146a/rs57095329, miR-146a/rs6864584, ets-1/rs1128334 and ets-1/rs10893872 were genotyped using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. The expression of Ets-1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from genotyped healthy controls was tested by real-time PCR. Two SNPs (rs2910164 and rs10893872) were associated with pediatric uveitis in this study. The frequencies of the rs2910164 GG genotype and G allele were significantly increased (Pc = 3.11×10(-4); Pc = 2.75×10(-6)) while the CC genotype and C allele were significantly decreased (Pc = 0.001; Pc = 2.75×10(-6)) in patients compared with normal controls. The frequencies of the rs10893872 CC genotype and C allele were significantly increased (Pc = 3.89×10(-4); Pc = 0.01) while the CT genotype and T allele were significantly decreased (Pc = 0.004; Pc = 0.01) in patients compared with normal controls. The SNP rs2910164 GG genotype and G/C allele were also associated with the presence of microvascular leakage as detected by fundus fluorescein angiography in pediatric uveitis (Pc = 0.01; Pc = 0.005, respectively). Ets-1 expression in rs10893872 CC carriers was significantly higher than in CT and TT individuals (Pc = 0.013). There was no association of the other three SNPs with pediatric uveitis.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This study shows that miR-146a and Ets-1 are both associated with pediatric uveitis in Han Chinese. SNP rs10893872 may affect the genetic predisposition to pediatric uveitis by modulating expression of Ets-1.