To find their expression profile, we tested whether hepatic insulin resistance elicited by HFD feeding affects the miRNA levels. In particular, the levels of miR-122 were significantly decreased in mice fed an HFD, implying that miR-122 dysregulation may be associated with the induction of PTP1B (Fig. 1B,

lower). The buy FK506 levels of other miRNAs were not changed (Fig. 1B, lower). miR-1 (a muscle-specific miRNA) was not detected in the liver. Next, a cell model was used to assess the expression profile of the miRNAs. Treatment of HepG2 cells with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) weakly, but significantly, increased PTP1B mRNA levels (Fig. 1C). TNF-α treatment induced PTP1B to a much greater extent (Fig. 1C), and decreased levels of the miRNAs predicted to bind the 3′UTR of the mRNA (Fig. 1D). Our in vivo and in vitro findings in conjunction with the database analyses suggested that miR-122 dysregulation might contribute to the posttranscriptional regulation of PTP1B. Next, we explored the functional role of miR-122 in the repression of PTP1B. First, in vitro assays were performed using miR-122 inhibitor or its mimic. Transfection of HepG2 cells with miR-122 inhibitor induced PTP1B (Fig. 2A), whereas miR-122 mimic transfection diminished its expression (Fig. 2B). Consistently,

transfection with miR-122 inhibitor increased the level Selleckchem CP-673451 of PTP1B mRNA, whereas miR-122 mimic transfection decreased selleck chemicals llc it (Fig. 2C,D), indicating that miR-122 may facilitate the degradation of PTP1B mRNA. To further prove a direct interaction between miR-122 and its binding site within the mRNA, luciferase activities from the PTP1B 3′UTR reporter construct were measured. As expected, miR-122 inhibitor transfection significantly increased luciferase expression from pEZX-PTP1B luciferase construct, whereas its mimic transfection decreased it (Fig. 2E,F), which verifies PTP1B as a direct target of miR-122. JNK1 dampens the normal insulin response by inhibiting IR signaling through serine phosphorylation of IRS1/2, playing a role in the development of obesity and insulin resistance.13 Because JNK1 is closely linked to IR in mice fed an HFD or cell models

exposed to TNF-α,12 we measured the levels of miR-122 and PTP1B in HepG2 cells transfected with the construct encoding for HA-tagged JNK1 (HA-JNK1) or a dominant-negative form of JNK1 (DN-JNK1). Overexpression of JNK1 decreased miR-122 levels, as verified by an increase in the miR-122 3′UTR luciferase activity, whereas that of DN-JNK1 had the opposite effect (Fig. 3A,B). In addition, enforced expression of JNK1 increased the pEZX-PTP1B luciferase activity and induced PTP1B protein levels (Fig. 3C). DN-JNK1 transfection exerted the opposite effect (Fig. 3D). JNK2 overexpression had no effect on miR-122 or PTP1B levels (Fig. 3E). These results showed that JNK1, but not JNK2, represses miR-122 levels, which may lead to the induction of PTP1B.