Chicoric acid alleviates LPS-induced inflammatory response through miR-130a-3p/IGF-1pathway in human lung A549 epithelial cells

Abstract

To investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of chicoric acid (CA) on LPS-induced inflammatory response in A549 cells. 0–800 μM CA was added to A549 cells to determine the toxicity of CA using MTT assay. Then, 2 μg/mL LPS and 50 μM CA were simultaneously added to A549 cells to investigate the effects of CA. In order to investigate the effects of miR-130a-3p and IGF-1 on LPS-induced A549 cells, cells were infected with inhibitor of miR-130a-3p and si RNA IGF-1. The levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were measured by real-time RT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay. The IGF-1 pathway and NF-κB expression were measured using immunoblot assay. Moreover, a luciferase activity assay was used to indicate the binding site of miR-130a-3p on the 3′UTR of IGF-1. 0–50 μM CA had no toxicity on A549 cells. Thus, we chose 50 μM CA for the following study. CA attenuated the inflammatory response by LPS through decreasing IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α levels and increasing IGF-1/IGF-1R expression. Inhibition of miR-130a-3p reduced the inflammatory response and restored IGF-1/IGF-1R pathway induced by LPS. Furthermore, luciferase activity results indicated that miR-130a-3p directly targeted IGF-1 to regulate inflammatory response. CA alleviates LPS-induced inflammatory response through miR-130a-3p/IGF-1pathway in A549 cells.