Alteration of miR-21 expression in primary rat astrocytes after oxygen-glucose deprivation

Objective To study the expression of miR-21 in primary rat astrocytes after oxygen-glucose deprivation(OGD) for different time, and to investigate whether miR-21 participates in the alteration of astrocytes after hypoxic ischemic brain injury. Methods Primary rat astrocytes were divided into the normal culture group and OGD culture group randomly, cultured for 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours respectively. The activities of primary astrocytes were measured by CCK-8Kit staining. The expression of miR-21 was detected by real-time PCR. Results The expression level of miR-21 in OGD culture groups first increased and then decreased with prolonged culture time, miR-21 expression level began to increase in OGD culture groups(cultured for 3-hour)than in the control group(P0.05) and reached the peak in OGD(cultured for 6h, P0.05), and then decreased near to the level of the control group in OGD (cultured for 9h, P0.05), reduced to be lower in OGD (cultured for 12h)than in the control group(P0.05). The dynamic change of astrocyte activity in different OGD culture groups showed a consisent tendency with the alteration of miR-21. Conclusion miR-21 possibly participates in the activatiom of astrocytes after hypoxic-ischemia brain injury, and maybe promotes astrocyte proliferation and inhibits astrocyte apoptosis.