miRNA expression in cytokine-stimulated airway smooth muscle cells

We used microarrays to determine if miRNA expression in human airway smooth muscle cells is altered by a pro-inflammatory stimulus. A majority of the miRNAs on the array exhibited very low signal intensity. In ASM cells exposed to IL-1β, TNFα, and IFNγ, none of the miRNA expressed were significantly up-regulated with cytokine treatment. We did observe 11 miRNA down-regulated > 2-fold in both cultures with cytokine treatment. These miRNA include described human miRNA miR-23a, -23b, -25, -188, -320, -363, -489, as well as mouse and rat miRNA homologous to miR-140*, mouse miR-329 and a novel miRNA, abi-13268. miRNA arrays for cytokine-stimulated ASM cells were completed in duplicate from two different cultures to identify candidate miRNA for further study. Cultures were growth arrested for 48 hours and treated with 10 ng/ml IL-1β, TNFα, and IFNγ for 24 hrs. A comparison of miRNA expression under cytokine-stimulated and non-treated conditions from hybridized miRNA arrays was calculated as described.