Evaluation of the Effect of Mir-26b Up-Regulation on Hbf Expression in Erythroleukemic K-562 Cell Line

Background: the major hemoglobin in the fetus is hemoglobin f (hbf) (α2γ2), whereas in adult humans, hemoglobin a (α2β2) is predominately expressed. several studies have indicated that expression of the hbf subunit γ-globin might be regulated post-transcriptionally. this could be done by small non-coding rnas called micrornas which target mrnas in a sequence-specific manner and lead to translational repression or mrna decay. the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of mir-26b up-regulation on γ-globin gene expression in k-562 cell line. methods: these cells were grown in rpmi 1640 and pre mir-26b and were transfected within k-562 cell line using lentiviral vector. after rna extraction and cdna synthesis in selected days, mirna up-regulation was confirmed by mirna real time pcr and then γand βchain and gata-1 expression were investigated by rt and qrt-pcr. results: the viability of cells before transfection was 90%. three and 7 days after transfection, through the use of relative q-pcr, the γ chain expression increased 3.7, 6.8 and 3.8 folds and gata-1 expression increased 2.1, 6.0 and 8.0 in comparison with untransfected cells. conclusion: the data suggest that mir-26b can be involved in the increase of γ-globin gene expression in k-562 cell line. we suggest that mir-26b may be a significant therapeutic target for increasing hbf levels in patients with sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.