Decreased microRNA-155 Expression in Ocular Behcet's Disease but Not in Vogt Koyanagi Harada Syndrome

PURPOSE. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a class of gene expression regulators involved in immune regulation. In the present study, we investigated the role of miRNA in two uveitis entities: Behcet's disease (BD) and Vogt Koyanagi Harada syndrome (VKH). METHODS. The expression of five miRNAs was studied in PBMCs, DCs, and CD4(+) T cells from BD patients with active and inactive uveitis, VKH patients with active uveitis, and healthy controls using real-time PCR. MiR-155 mimics and inhibitor were transfected to DCs to evaluate the effect on DC maturation and cytokine production by these cells and CD4(+) T cells. Luciferase reporter assays and Western blotting were performed to identify the target gene of miR-155. RESULTS. Only miR-155 expression was significantly decreased in PBMCs and DCs from BD patients with active uveitis and no differences were observed in the miRNA expression in cells from patients with VKH as compared with controls. Overexpression of miR-155 in DCs was shown to inhibit the production of IL-6 and IL-1 beta, and to promote the expression of IL-10 by these cells. MiR-155 transfected DCs significantly inhibited intracellular IL-17 expression in allogeneic CD4(+) T cells; however, it did not influence the expression of cell surface markers CD80, CD40, CD83, CD86, and HLA-DR. Luciferase reporter assays revealed that TAB2 was a target gene of miR-155, which was confirmed by Western blotting. CONCLUSIONS. The present results suggest that miR-155 expression is decreased in active BD but not in VKH patients. Downregulated miR-155 may be involved in BD pathogenesis by targeting TAB2. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:5665-5674) DOI:10.1167/iovs.12-9832