Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of miRNA-34a-5p / fucosyltransferase ( Fut8) axis on the mobility of macrophage-derived foam cells. Methods Firstly, bioinformatics and RT-PCR were used to find and detect the upstream regulatory miRNA of Fut8 gene. Secondly, the correlation between levels of Fut8 and miRNA in serum of the patients with plaque was observed by Pearson correlation analysis. Finally, the in vitro model of foam cell was used to observe the effect of miRNA on cell mobility and the important role Fut8 played in. Results Both miRNA-34a-5p and miRNA-449b-5p were significantly increased in serum of patients with plaque, but miRNA-34a-5p had a stronger correlation with Fut8. The expression level of miRNA-34a-5p was significantly increased during foam cell formation, and inhibition of miRNA-34a-5p increased the expression level of Fut8. Overexpression of miRNA-34a-5p led to a decrease in the number of cells penetrated into the lower compartment of the transwell chamber. The number of cells penetrated into the lower compartment was increased after the overexpression of Fut8 in cells. Conclusion As one of the upstream miRNAs of Fut8, miRNA-34a-5p inhibits the mobility of macrophage-derived foam cells by down-regulation of Fut8.

Key words: miRNA-34a-5p, miRNA-449b-5p, Fut8, foam cells, mobility