Activation of TLR7 increases CCND3 expression via the downregulation of miR-15b in B cells of systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by B-cell hyperreactivity. The Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) signaling pathway is abnormally activated in SLE B cells. CyclinD3 (CCND3) plays an important role in B-cell proliferation, development, and differentiation. Although previous studies focused on the B cell-intrinsic role of TLR7 for the development of spontaneous germinal centers, the influence of TLR7 on CCND3 in SLE B cells is still not clear. Here, we used a B-cell profiling chip and found that CCND3 was related to SLE and significantly elevated in SLE B cells. Moreover, we determined that the expression level of CCND3 was higher, while miR-15b was significantly lower in the B cells from SLE patients and B6.MRL-Faslpr/J lupus mice compared to normal subjects. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the activation of TLR7 dramatically increased CCND3 expression but significantly decreased miR-15b in B cells in vitro and we identified that CCND3 is a direct target of miR-15b. To further confirm our results, we established another lupus model by topically treating C57BL/6 (B6) mice with the TLR-7 agonist imiquimod (IMQ) for 8 weeks according to the previously described protocol. Expectedly, topical treatment with IMQ also significantly increased CCND3 and decreased miR-15b in B cells of B6 mice. Taken together, our results identified that the activation of TLR7 increased CCND3 expression via the downregulation of miR-15b in B cells; thus, these findings suggest that extrinsic factor-induced CCND3 expression may contribute to the abnormality of B cell in SLE.