Mechanical Stress Induces Pre–B-cell Colony-Enhancing Factor/NAMPT Expression via Epigenetic Regulation by miR-374a and miR-568 in Human Lung Endothelium

Increased lung vascular permeability and alveolar edema are cardinal features of inflammatory conditions such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). We previously demonstrated that pre–B-cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF)/NAMPT, the proinflammatory cytokine encoded by NAMPT, participates in ARDS and VILI inflammatory syndromes. The present study evaluated posttranscriptional regulation of PBEF/NAMPT gene expression in human lung endothelium via 3′-untranslated region (UTR) microRNA (miRNA) binding. In silico analysis identified hsa-miR-374a and hsa-miR-568 as potential miRNA candidates. Increased PBEF/NAMPT transcription (by RT-PCR) and expression (by Western blotting) induced by 18% cyclic stretch (CS) (2 h: 3.4 ± 0.06 mRNA fold increase (FI); 10 h: 1.5 ± 0.06 protein FI) and by LPS (4 h: 3.8 ± 0.2 mRNA FI; 48 h: 2.6 ± 0.2 protein FI) were significantly attenuated by transfection with mimics of hsa-miR-374a or hsa-miR-568 (40–60% reductions each). LPS and 18% CS increased the activity of a PBEF/NAMPT 3′-UTR luciferase reporter (2.4–3.25 FI) with induction reduced by mimics of each miRNA (44–60% reduction). Specific miRNA inhibitors (antagomirs) for each PBEF/NAMPT miRNA significantly increased the endogenous PBEF/NAMPT mRNA (1.4–3.4 ± 0.1 FI) and protein levels (1.2–1.4 ± 0.1 FI) and 3′-UTR luciferase activity (1.4–1.7 ± 0.1 FI) compared with negative antagomir controls. Collectively, these data demonstrate that increased PBEF/NAMPT expression induced by bioactive agonists (i.e., excessive mechanical stress, LPS) involves epigenetic regulation with hsa-miR-374a and hsa-miR-568, representing novel therapeutic strategies to reduce inflammatory lung injury.