MicroRNA-494 targets PTEN and suppresses PI3K/AKT pathway to alleviate hypertrophic scar formation

Hypertrophic scar is a common complication after skin injury. MicroRNAs have been reported related to hypertrophic scar through posttranscriptional control of genes. Hypertrophic scar-derived fibroblast model and mice incision model were used to see the expression of microRNA-494 and whether the level changes of microRNA-494 could affect scar formation. It was found that in hypertrophic scar, the expression of microRNA-494 decreased. However, after over-express microRNA-494 in fibroblasts, the levels of scar related molecules such as Col I, Col III increased. And when suppress the level of microRNA-494 in fibroblasts, the levels of collagen decreased. Moreover, the up-regulation of microRNA-494 led to decreased apoptosis of fibroblasts while the down-regulation of it led to increased apoptosis. Further, it was found that PTEN was one of the downstream targets of microRNA-494. The up-regulation of PTEN led to inactivation of PI3K/AKT pathway and the decreased expression of collagens. In conclusion, we confirmed that microRNA-494 could be a key regulator to suppress hypertrophic scar formation. The suppression of microRNA-494 could eliminate its inhibition effect to PTEN and finally decrease the expression of collagen and inhibit hypertrophic scar formation.