Tauroursodeoxycholic acid suppresses biliary epithelial cell apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress by miR-107/NCK1 axis in a FXR-dependent manner

Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) can activate farnesoid X receptor (FXR) to involve in the formation of gallstones. Here, this study aimed to probe the potential mechanism of TUDCA-FXR network in the formation of bile duct stone. The levels of TUDCA, FXR and NCK1 were decreased, while the level of miR-107 was increased in the serum of bile duct stone patients. FXR expression was positively correlated with TUDCA or NCK1 expression in patients, moreover, TUDCA pretreatment in biliary epithelial cells increased the levels of FXR and NCK1, and rescued the decrease of NCK1 caused by FXR knockdown in cells. Then functional analysis showed FXR knockdown caused apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) as well as suppressed proliferation in biliary epithelial cells in vitro, which were attenuated by TUDCA pretreatment or NCK1 overexpression Mechanistically, NCK1 was a target of miR-107, which was up-regulated by FXR silencing, and FXR knockdown-induced decrease of NCK1 was rescued by miR-107 inhibition. Additionally, miR-107 expression was negatively correlated with TUDCA expression in bile duct stone patients, and TUDCA pretreatment in biliary epithelial cells decreased miR-107 expression by FXR. Functionally, the pretreatment of TUDCA or FXR agonist suppressed miR-107-evoked apoptosis and ERS in biliary epithelial cells. In conclusion, TUDCA up-regulates FXR expression to activate NCK1 through absorbing miR-107, thus suppressing the apoptosis and ERS in biliary epithelial cells, these results provided a theoretical basis for elucidating the mechanism of bile duct stone formation.