Objective To test the effects on the expression of microRNA(miRNA)-21 (miR-21) in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293 cells) induced by cadmium.
Methods HEK293 cells were cultured with 0, 30, 60, and 120 μmol/L of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) for 1, 3, 6 and 12 h, respectively. MTT was used to test cell growth. The miR-21 expression was detected by qRT-PCR.
Results With the increasing of CdCl2 concentrations and action time, the inhibition to cells growth was observed. The inhibition rate reached maximum after 12 h treatment at 120 μmol/L CdCl2, and the corresponding viability was 8.57%. At the same exposure time, differences in the expression of miR-21 were observed among cells treated with different concentrations of CdCl2 (P < 0.01), and the expression of miR-21 was up-regulated with increasing concentrations of CdCl2 (Ptrend < 0.01). At the same concentration of CdCl2, different action time of CdCl2 resulted in different expressions of miR-21 (P < 0.05). With action time extending, the expression of miR-21 was up-regulated at 30 μmol/L and 120 μmol/L CdCl2 (Ptrend=0.030, Ptrend=0.011). The expression of miR-21 reached maximum after treatment with 120μmol/L CdCl2 for 12 h, and the relative expression of miR-21 was 27.77.
Conclusion Cadmium exposure could up-regulate the expression of miR-21.
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