Up-regulation of Serum MiR-130b-3p Level is Associated with Renal Damage in Early Lupus Nephritis

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common but severe autoimmune systemic inflammatory disease. Lupus nephritis (LN) is a serious complication of SLE, affecting up to 70% of SLE patients. Circulating microRNAs (miRNA) are emerging as biomarkers for pathological conditions and play significant roles in intercellular communication. In present research, serum samples from healthy control, early and late stage LN patients were used to analyze the expression profile of miRNAs by microarray. Subsequent study demonstrated that miR-130b-3p in serum of patients with early stage LN were significantly up-regulated when compared with healthy controls. In addition, we have also observed that the expression of a large amount of circulating microRNAs significantly decreased in patients with late stage LN. The further analysis found that the expression of serum miR-130b-3p was positively correlated with 24-hour proteinuria and renal chronicity index in patients with early stage LN. Transfection of renal tubular cellline(HK-2) with miR-130b-3p mimics can promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The opposite effects were observed when transfected with miR-130b-3p inhibitors. MiR-130b-3p negatively regulated ERBB2IP expression by directly targeting the 3'-UTR of ERBB2IP The circulating miR-130b-3p might serve as a biomarker and play an important role in renal damage in early stage LN patients.