RETRACTED: miR-519d downregulates LEP expression to inhibit preeclampsia development (Retracted article. See vol. 17, pg. 1507, 2022)

The purpose of the current study was to char-acterize role of microRNA (miR)-519d in trophoblast cells and preeclampsia (PE) development and its potential underlying mechanism. Regulation of leptin (LEP) by miR-519d was verified using a dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Loss-and gain-of-function assays were conducted to detect the roles of miR-519d and LEP in proliferation, migratory ability, and invasive capacity of HTR-8/SVneo cells by means of CCK-8 assay, scratch test, and Transwell invasion assay, respectively. The cell apoptosis rate and cycle distribution were analyzed by flow cyto-metry. LEP expression was elevated, whereas miR-519d level was suppressed in the PE placenta samples com-pared with those from normal pregnancy. Depletion of LEP promoted proliferation, migratory ability, and inva-sive capacity and repressed apoptosis. miR-519d could bind 3 ' untranslated regions (3 ' UTRs) of LEP, the extent of which correlated negatively with LEP expression. miR-519d suppressed the expression of LEP in HTR-8/SVneo cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-519d promoted survival and migratory ability of HTR-8/SVneo cells. Taken together, we find that miR-519d targeted LEP and down-regulated its expression, which could likely inhibit the of PE.