The expression of miR-125b regulates angiogenesis during the recovery of heat-denatured HUVECs

•We investigate the expression patterns of miR-125b during the recovery of denatured dermis and heat-denatured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).•We determine the relationship of VEGF and miR-125b during the recovery of heat-denatured dermis and heat-denatured HUVECs.•We found that the pathway of miR-125b regulate the expression of VEGF.•The effect of miR-125b on heat-denatured HUVECs migration and tube formation.

BackgroundIn previous studies we found that miR-125b was down-regulated in denatured dermis of deep partial thickness burn patients. Moreover, miR-125b inhibited tumor-angiogenesis associated with the decrease of ERBB2 and VEGF expression in ovarian cancer cells and breast cancer cells, etc. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns and roles of miR-125b during the recovery of denatured dermis and heat-denatured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).MethodsDeep partial thickness burns in Sprague–Dawley rats and the heat-denatured cells (52 °C, 35 s) were used for analysis. Western blot analysis and real-time PCR were applied to evaluate the expression of miR-125b and ERBB2 and VEGF. The ability of angiogenesis in heat-denatured HUVECs was analyzed by scratch wound healing and tube formation assay after pri-miR-125b or anti-miR-125b transfection.ResultsmiR-125b expression was time-dependent during the recovery of heat-denatured dermis and HUVECs. Moreover, miR-125b regulated ERBB2 mRNA and Protein Expression and regulated angiogenesis association with regulating the expression of VEGF in heat-denatured HUVECs.ConclusionsTaken together our results show that the expression of miR-125b is time-dependent and miR-125b plays a regulatory role of angiogenesis during wound healing after burns.