miR-26a inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis in porcine immature Sertoli cells by targeting the PAK2 gene.

Accumulating reports have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in regulating the complex processes of animal testis development and spermatogenesis; yet, the mechanisms by which miRNAs regulate spermatogenesis are poorly understood. miR-26a was identified as a miRNA that is differentially expressed among different pig testicular tissue developmental stages in our previous study. In this study, p21 activated kinase 2 (PAK2) gene was determined as one target gene of miR-26a by luciferase reporter assay, and miR-26a repressed the PAK2 mRNA abundance in porcine Sertoli cells. The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay and annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay results showed that miR-26a overexpression inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in porcine Sertoli cells. These phenomena were similar to the siRNA-mediated knockdown of the PAK2 gene. Taken together, our results demonstrate that miR-26a inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis in porcine Sertoli cells by targeting the PAK2 gene, which may be a regulator of porcine spermatogenesis.

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