Poster presentation, P31

Official XXIst International Pigment Cell Conference website - 21-24 Sept 2011, Bordeaux - France | updated: September 04 2011

Microarray analysis of microRNA modulation in UVB stimulated human melanocytes

MicroRNAs are single-stranded regulatory RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides length generated from endogenous transcripts that form local hairpin structures. miRNAs occur naturally within cells to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Evidence indicates that miRNAs play essential roles in embryogenesis, cell differentiation, skin aging and pigmentation control. In this study, we have investigated miRNAs expression profiles in human normal melanocytes in response to UVB exposure. The miRNAs profiling was carried out with TaqMan miRNA assay from Applied Biosystems. We have found that more than 150 miRNA were expressed in melanocytes in basal conditions. In a 24h time-course analysis after UV exposure, 50% of miRNA showed a variation in their expression levels. Among the miRNA modulated by UVB induction, 35 are implicated in control of tyrosinase activation cascade and along them 11 in tyrosinase (TYR) or tyrosinase-related protein (TRP1) gene expression control. Further analysis revealed that in a global manner, TYR and TRP1 miRNAs expression levels are increased in UVB stimulated melanocytes in comparison with sham control. By qRT-PCR analysis we confirmed that upregulation of tyrosinase miRNAs, in response to UVB, is correlated with downregulation of tyrosinase gene expression. In conclusion, dynamic changes in miRNAs expression occurred during melanocytes UVB response, with an overall increase in TYR and TRP1 specific miRNAs levels indicate than the use of gene silencing effectors such as TYR and TRP1 miRNAs could provide a powerful strategy for melanogenesis regulation control.

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