Synergistic effects of sulfur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on pulmonary pro-fibrosis via mir-30c-1-3p/ transforming growth factor β type II receptor axis.

SO2 and PAHs are well-known pollutants of coal burning and significant contributors to haze episodes. The purpose of the study is to determine whether the combined effects of SO2 and BaP are synergetic and to investigate the pro-fibrotic influences and possible mechanism from the aspect of microRNAs. In the present study cellular metabolic activity of BEAS-2B was assessed using MTT probe. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to BaP (40 mg/kg b.w.) for 5 days or SO2 (7 mg/m3) inhalation for 4 weeks alone or together. Lung tissues were processed for histology to assess pulmonary fibrosis. The protein level of pulmonary pro-fibrotic genes (Col1a1, Col3a1, alpha-SMA, fibronectin) and TGFβR2 were analyzed by Western blot and immunofluorescence in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, we clarified that the microRNA expression of mir-30c-1-3p by real-time RT-PCR. The luciferase reporter assay was used to determine the binding sites of mir-30c-1-3p in the 3'-UTR of TGFβR2. It was confirmed that SO2 and BaP acted together to produce synergistic effects in cellular metabolic activity. Coexisting of SO2 and BaP increased the protein expression of pro-fibrotic genes and TGFβR2 and decreased mir-30c-1-3p in vivo and in vitro. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assays showed that TGFβR2 was a validated target of mir-30c-1-3p. All above results demonstrated that mir-30c-1-3p was involved in the synergistic pro-fibrotic effects of SO2 and BaP in lung via targeting TGFβR2. This work implies the potential risk of pulmonary fibrosis from the co-existence of SO2 and PAHs and provides new insights into the molecular markers for relevant diseases.