miR-103/107 promote ER stress-mediated apoptosis via targeting the Wnt3a/β-catenin/ATF6 pathway in preadipocytes.

Both miR-103 and miR-107 have been demonstrated to restrain cell proliferation and regulate lipid metabolism and inflammation. However, the effects of miR-103/107 on preadipocyte apoptosis remain unknown. In the present research, we have investigated how miR-103/107 regulated preadipocyte apoptosis. We found that miR-103/107 aggravated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis in preadipocytes. We confirmed that miR-103/107 targeted WNT family member 3a (Wnt3a) in preadipocytes. It was found that overexpressing Wnt3a resulted in suppression of ER stress-mediated apoptosis, while restoration of miR-103/107 counteracted the effects of Wnt3a in preadipocytes. Moreover, bioinformatics and luciferase assays indicated that activating transcription factor (ATF)6 is a key player linking miR-103/107-induced ER stress to apoptosis. ATF6 is regulated by lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1, a transcription factor downstream of the Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway, and ATF6 binds to the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) promoter to regulate apoptosis further. In conclusion, miR-103/107 promoted ER stress-mediated apoptosis by targeting the Wnt3a/β-catenin/ATF6 signaling pathway in preadipocytes. This study revealed that the miR-103/107-Wnt3a/β-catenin-ATF6 pathway is critical to the progression of apoptosis in preadipocytes, which suggested that approaches to activate miR-103/107 could potentially be useful as new therapies for treating obesity and metabolic syndrome-related disorders.