MicroRNAs Modulate Smoking Damage

Avrum E. Spria, M.D.
Boston University Medical Center
NIEHS Grant U01ES016035

A multidisciplinary study conducted at Boston University identified 28 microRNAs that are differentially expressed in bronchial airway epithelial cells from smokers compared to non-smokers. These microRNAs regulate gene expression changes occurring in people who smoke and who get smoking-related diseases, according to the study’s senior author Dr. Avrum Spira.

The investigators harvested samples of cells from 10 smokers and 10 non-smokers. The majority of the microRNAs were down-regulated in smokers suggesting that restoration of expression to more normal levels could protect smokers from smoking-related diseases, such as emphysema and lung cancer. Mir-218 was identified as a key microRNA for controlling a group of genes involved in protection of lung tissues from oxidative damage.

The investigators speculate that mir-218 is crucial in preventing lung injury and thus the potential development of lung disease. Mir-218 activity could also be used as a marker for lung injury and might be useful in predicting which people are more likely to develop lung diseases as a result of smoking.

Citation: Schembri F, Sridhar S, Perdomo C, Gustafson AM, Zhang X, Ergun A, Lu J, Liu G,Zhang X, Bowers J, Vaziri C, Ott K, Sensinger K, Collins JJ, Brody JS, Getts R,Lenburg ME, Spira A. MicroRNAs as modulators of smoking-induced gene expression changes in human airway epithelium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Feb 17;106(7):2319-24.