MiR-23a inhibited IL-17-mediated proinflammatory mediators expression via targeting IKKα in articular chondrocytes

•miR-23a expression was decreased in rheumatoid arthritis.•miR-23a suppressed IL-17-mediated proinflammatory mediators expression.•miR-23a expression was inversely correlated with IKKα expression.•miR-23a inhibited IL-17-mediated proinflammatory mediators expression via targeting the IKKα.

The inflammatory cytokine interleukin 17 (IL-17) is an important contributor of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) chronicity. Although several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to regulate RA pathogenesis, the function of miRNAs in articular chondrocytes during rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis is unclear. Here we showed that miR-23a was downregulated in articular cartilage tissues from rheumatoid arthritis patients. MiR-23a suppressed IL-17 inflammatory cytokine-induced NF-κB activation and several proinflammatory mediators expression, such as cytokine IL-6, chemokine MCP-1, and matrix metalloproteinase MMP-3 in articular chondrocytes. Furthermore, we found that the miR-23a expression was inversely correlated with IKKα expression in articular cartilage tissues from rheumatoid arthritis patients. We identified that IKKα was the direct target of miR-23a and miR-23a inhibited IL-17-mediated proinflammatory mediators expression via targeting the IKKα in primary articular chondrocytes. Together, our study provides the first evidence of a role for miR-23a regulated IL-17-mediated proinflammatory mediators expression in rheumatoid arthritis by directly targeting IKKα. Our findings provide novel evidence that may be useful for future studies exploring therapeutic approaches for rheumatoid arthritis by targeting miR-23a. Thus, miR-23a may be a common therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis.