# The Connection between High Myopia Patients and MiR-708a or MiR-148 Expression Levels in Aqueous Studies of Visual Acuity

Authors: Jiang Shen; Hong Lou; Qihua Yu; Hongyan Yao; Jianshu Yuan
Journal: BioMed Research International
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Myopia goes far beyond the inconvenience it brings. It is a prevailing and vision-threatening eye disease, especially in Asia. Aberrantly expressed miR-708a and miR-148 are critical for accurate diagnosis, good prognosis, and precise response prediction of myopia. In this paper, we aim to examine the potential contributions of miR-708a, miR-148a, and PAX6 to high myopia (HM). First, aqueous samples were taken from 25 exclusively HM eyes and 25 exclusively cataract eyes. For next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, RNA from sample 30one was used. Twenty more samples were used for RT-qPCR. 341 miRNAs in total were found in HM eyes; 249 mature miRNAs and 17 new miRNAs showed differential expression. The expression of hsa-miR-127-3p, hsa-let-7i-5p, and hsa-miR-98-5p was identified using RT-qPCR. MiR-708a and miR-148, which may be linked to the development of myopia and serve as possible biomarkers, are notably highly expressed in atrial tissues of HM patients. Our findings may help deepen the understanding of the mechanisms behind the high expression of miR-708a and miR-148 in atrial tissues of patients with HM.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Myopia is the most prevailing causative factor for refractive error (RE) globally. High myopia (HM) is severe, usually accompanied by fundus lesions [1]. Myopia is due to the mismatch between the eyes’ axial length (AL) and the energy of its refractive components, resulting in the image focusing ahead the retina and blurring of vision in the distance [2]. As the leading contributor to RE, myopia results in impaired vision and even blindness [3, 4], with over 80% prevalence in young population in China and Singapore [5]. HM is regarded as a RE ≤ -6.00 diopters (D), usually along with excessive AL (≥26 mm) and other complicating diseases, like retinal detachment, cataract, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, which are also known as pathological myopia [6].Patients undergoing cataract surgery have many choices of intraocular lens (IOL), which depends on their requirements for spectacle independence and tolerance for latent visual disturbance. Bifocal and trifocal IOLs are superior to extended depth of focus (EDOF) or monofocal IOLs, since they offer better near vision [7, 8]. Some researchers demonstrated that multifocal IOLs were more prone to visual disturbance than EDOF lenses, but others reported no difference [9, 10]. Previously studied EDOF and multifocal IOLs are related to higher rates of visual disturbance compared to monofocal IOLs [7], however which may be addressed by EDOF lens with monovision correction since IOL effect and monovision offset will produce cumulative effects [11]. Besides, relative to traditional implantable collamer lens (ICL) without central hole, it is more effective in diminishing major postoperative complication, cataract [12, 13], possibly due to the improved aqueous humor (AqH) circulation to the crystalline lens anterior surface [14]. However, as our findings elicited, ICL implantation will cause corneal astigmatism of about 0.5 diopter (D) with-the-rule shift [15]. The upper corneal incision may help to reduce astigmatism clinically, and subsequent vertical ICL fixation is easier to operate than horizontal fixation since ICL rotation is no more needed. However, the efficacy of this novel technique remains unclear [16].MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs consisting of 19 to 22 nucleotides (nt) [17]. It is of importance to understand aberrantly expressed miRNAs in myopia. A previous study assessing the peripheral blood of myopia patients revealed the association between highly expressed miR-328 and the miR-29a rs157907 A/G polymorphism with HM incidence [18]. Understanding the possible intraocular profiling and regulation of miRNAs is imperative since they are tissue/cell-specific [19]. miRNA profiling was only studied in ocular tissues of myopia murine models, and the results were contradictory [20, 21]. In human AqH, compared with circulating blood, miRNA expression was eye-specific [22]. The miRNAs in AqH were thought to involve in eye development and diseases [23]. Paired box protein 6 (PAX6) is crucial for eye and retinal development [24]. It modulates the levels of transcription factors, hormones, cell adhesion molecules, and structural proteins [25] and thus involved in major biological processes, like adhesion, signal transduction, and cell proliferation in physiological and pathological progresses [26, 27].Therefore, investigating this procedure may offer promising insights into the improvement of HM. We choose 25 exclusively HM eyes and 25 exclusively cataract eyes as aqueous samples and selected miR-708a and miR-148 as the two miRNAs. We used SPSS 21.0 to analyze data and applied thet-test for pairwise comparison and one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test for multi-group comparisons. We believe that our research could develop innovative options to improve the management of myopia.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Sample Collection

Patients looking for correction of HM at our institution were recruited, while those with mild to moderate cataracts undergoing ultrasound emulsion surgery served as controls. Each participant provided written informed consent. The study was ratified by ethics committee and followed the Declaration of Helsinki.Inclusion criteria for HM group included (1) ≥18 years; (2) AL ≥26 mm; (3) RE (spherical equivalent) >6.00 D prior to the operation; (4) without other ocular diseases (except myopia). Inclusion criteria for the cataract group included (1) ≥18 years; (2) AL between 22 and 24 mm; (3) age-related mild/moderate cataract (e.g., nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular cataracts) diagnosed by dilated pupil examination with slit lamp; without premature, complex and congenital cataract; (4) without any ocular diseases. Participants with serious systemic disease or a history of endophthalmic surgery or ocular trauma were excluded from both groups. Only one eye was included from each participant. The AL of all participants was determined by an experienced clinician with an IOL Master (Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany). Next, all subjects were allocated to the group A (HM) and group B (controls) as per the above criteria.


### 2.2. Aqueous Samples

The Aqueous (100-150μL) was first harvested from each included eye under sterile conditions through an anterior chamber puncture and centrifuged (3,000 × g, 5 min, 4°C; 12,000 × g, 20 min, 4°C) immediately to discard cells and cellular debris. To avoid blood contamination, collect Aqueous before performing any conjunctival or intraocular procedures.The Aqueous harvested from 3 eyes was mixed (300μL Aqueous per sample). Thereby, we got 5 samples from each group. Meanwhile, total RNA was extracted by means of TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies, USA) and then preserved at -80°C.


### 2.3. miRNA Sequencing and RT-qPCR

The miRNA sequencing library was built by each RNA sample with an initial RNA amount (100 ng) and TruSeq RNA Library Preparation Kit (RS-122-2301; Illumina). Following cDNA synthesis, PCR amplification and PAGE were conducted to retrieve PCR products of 0-150 bp (0-22 nt miRNA) and sequencing library quality was determined using the Bioanalyzer. The RNA yield of the sequencing libraries was tested through the ABI StepOnePlus RT-PCR System (Life Technologies, Inc.). Subsequently, sequencing libraries were denatured to single-stranded DNAs and captured into Illumina flow cells, followed by amplification in situ. Sequencing50 cycles were conducted using the Hieq4000 sequencing platform (Illumina, USA) with Q30 as a quality control. Based on the principal algorithm of miRDeep, differential miRNAs are distinguished from small RNA fragments based on miRNAs location and frequency, loop fragments on miRNA∗ and precursor sequences, minimal free energy and stability, 2008 and similarity. 5’ends of recognized mature miRNAs (Friedlander et al.)The original sequencing data were subsequently eliminated and filtered and normalized to the number of tags per million paired miRNAs. miRNA profiles were verified by arranging the miRNA expression in a descending order and miRDeep2 software (https://www.mdc-berlin.de/content/mirdeep2-documentation) was utilized to forecast differential miRNAs, ploidy changes, p-values (probability values), and FDRs (p-values corrected by the Benjamini-Hochberg method). Differentially expressed miRNAs were distinguished as ploidy change ≥ 2.0 and p ≤0.05.After RNA extraction, protein concentration was testified using a NanoDrop 1000 spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) and RNA quality was assessed by a Bioanalyzer (2100, Agilent Technologies), and cDNA was synthesized by the PrimeScript synthesis cDNA kit (Takara, Japan). SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Takara) was adopted for qPCR to normalize miR-708a/miR-148 expression to U6.


### 2.4. Dual-Luciferase Assay and Data Analysis Methods

Online software TargetScan predicted binding sites of miR-708a/miR-148 and PAX6. PCR amplified the complementary binding sequences of miR-708a, miR-148, and PAX6, respectively, and cloned them into the pmiR-GLO (Promega, USA) to construct PAX6-WT and PAX6-MUT, which were mixed with mimics NC and miR-708a and miR-148mimics, respectively, and transfected into HEK-293T cells after mixing with LipofectamineTM 2000 liposomes for 48, followed by detecting luciferase activity.SPSS 21.0 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA) was employed for data analyses. Data were normally distributed as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirmed and depicted as mean ± standard deviation. Thet-test was applied for pairwise comparison and one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test were applied for multi-group comparisons. Fisher’s exact test was adopted for counting data; correlation analysis was undertaken by Pearson’s test; ROC curves were then plotted to evaluate the effect of serum miR-708a/miR-148. p-value was attained from two-sided tests and p<0.05 indicated statistically significant.


## 2.1. Sample Collection

Patients looking for correction of HM at our institution were recruited, while those with mild to moderate cataracts undergoing ultrasound emulsion surgery served as controls. Each participant provided written informed consent. The study was ratified by ethics committee and followed the Declaration of Helsinki.Inclusion criteria for HM group included (1) ≥18 years; (2) AL ≥26 mm; (3) RE (spherical equivalent) >6.00 D prior to the operation; (4) without other ocular diseases (except myopia). Inclusion criteria for the cataract group included (1) ≥18 years; (2) AL between 22 and 24 mm; (3) age-related mild/moderate cataract (e.g., nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular cataracts) diagnosed by dilated pupil examination with slit lamp; without premature, complex and congenital cataract; (4) without any ocular diseases. Participants with serious systemic disease or a history of endophthalmic surgery or ocular trauma were excluded from both groups. Only one eye was included from each participant. The AL of all participants was determined by an experienced clinician with an IOL Master (Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany). Next, all subjects were allocated to the group A (HM) and group B (controls) as per the above criteria.


## 2.2. Aqueous Samples

The Aqueous (100-150μL) was first harvested from each included eye under sterile conditions through an anterior chamber puncture and centrifuged (3,000 × g, 5 min, 4°C; 12,000 × g, 20 min, 4°C) immediately to discard cells and cellular debris. To avoid blood contamination, collect Aqueous before performing any conjunctival or intraocular procedures.The Aqueous harvested from 3 eyes was mixed (300μL Aqueous per sample). Thereby, we got 5 samples from each group. Meanwhile, total RNA was extracted by means of TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies, USA) and then preserved at -80°C.


## 2.3. miRNA Sequencing and RT-qPCR

The miRNA sequencing library was built by each RNA sample with an initial RNA amount (100 ng) and TruSeq RNA Library Preparation Kit (RS-122-2301; Illumina). Following cDNA synthesis, PCR amplification and PAGE were conducted to retrieve PCR products of 0-150 bp (0-22 nt miRNA) and sequencing library quality was determined using the Bioanalyzer. The RNA yield of the sequencing libraries was tested through the ABI StepOnePlus RT-PCR System (Life Technologies, Inc.). Subsequently, sequencing libraries were denatured to single-stranded DNAs and captured into Illumina flow cells, followed by amplification in situ. Sequencing50 cycles were conducted using the Hieq4000 sequencing platform (Illumina, USA) with Q30 as a quality control. Based on the principal algorithm of miRDeep, differential miRNAs are distinguished from small RNA fragments based on miRNAs location and frequency, loop fragments on miRNA∗ and precursor sequences, minimal free energy and stability, 2008 and similarity. 5’ends of recognized mature miRNAs (Friedlander et al.)The original sequencing data were subsequently eliminated and filtered and normalized to the number of tags per million paired miRNAs. miRNA profiles were verified by arranging the miRNA expression in a descending order and miRDeep2 software (https://www.mdc-berlin.de/content/mirdeep2-documentation) was utilized to forecast differential miRNAs, ploidy changes, p-values (probability values), and FDRs (p-values corrected by the Benjamini-Hochberg method). Differentially expressed miRNAs were distinguished as ploidy change ≥ 2.0 and p ≤0.05.After RNA extraction, protein concentration was testified using a NanoDrop 1000 spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) and RNA quality was assessed by a Bioanalyzer (2100, Agilent Technologies), and cDNA was synthesized by the PrimeScript synthesis cDNA kit (Takara, Japan). SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Takara) was adopted for qPCR to normalize miR-708a/miR-148 expression to U6.


## 2.4. Dual-Luciferase Assay and Data Analysis Methods

Online software TargetScan predicted binding sites of miR-708a/miR-148 and PAX6. PCR amplified the complementary binding sequences of miR-708a, miR-148, and PAX6, respectively, and cloned them into the pmiR-GLO (Promega, USA) to construct PAX6-WT and PAX6-MUT, which were mixed with mimics NC and miR-708a and miR-148mimics, respectively, and transfected into HEK-293T cells after mixing with LipofectamineTM 2000 liposomes for 48, followed by detecting luciferase activity.SPSS 21.0 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA) was employed for data analyses. Data were normally distributed as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirmed and depicted as mean ± standard deviation. Thet-test was applied for pairwise comparison and one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test were applied for multi-group comparisons. Fisher’s exact test was adopted for counting data; correlation analysis was undertaken by Pearson’s test; ROC curves were then plotted to evaluate the effect of serum miR-708a/miR-148. p-value was attained from two-sided tests and p<0.05 indicated statistically significant.


## 3. Experimental Results

### 3.1. High miR-708a/miR-148 Expression in Aqueous in HM Patients

We discovered 341 miRNAs in the Aqueous of HM eyes by sequencing (Figure1(a)). Based on it, we selected miR-708a and miR-148 as the two miRNAs with the most significant expression differences in sequencing. The miR-708a and miR-148 levels in the Aqueous detected by qPCR were markedly higher in HM patients than cataract patients (Figure 1(b)). Besides, we analyzed the correlation between the myopia of HM patients and miR-708a/miR-148 expression, and we noticed that as miR-708a/miR-148 expression increased, the patients also had notably higher reading (Figure 1(c)).Figure 1
High miR-708a/miR-148 expression in the Aqueous of HM patients. Figure1(a) shows the DE miRNAs in the Aqueous of HM patients analyzed by sequencing. Figure 1(b) shows that qRT-PCR detected the miR-708a and miR-148 expression in HM patients and cataract patients.
(a)(b)(c)


### 3.2. miR-708a/miR-148 Targeted PAX6

To further clarify the mechanism of action of miR-708a/miR-148, we used TargetScan and RNA Hybrid website to predict and screen miR-708a/miR-148 downstream targets, and we screened to PAX6 (Figure2(a)). Subsequently, we first verified the target binding relationship between miR-708a and miR-148 and PAX6 using dual luciferase, respectively, and we found reduced luciferase activity in 293T cells delivered with miR-708a and miR-148mimic, and no apparent change in cells with mimic NC or PAX6-MT (Figures 2(b)–2(c)), indicating that miR-708a and miR-148 can have a target binding relationship with the 3′-UTR sequence of PAX6.Figure 2
miR-708a/miR-148 target PAX6. (a) Bioinformatics analysis of miR-708a or miR-148 targeting mRNAs by TargetScan and RNA hybrid software. (b~c) Determination of binding relationship of miR-708a/miR-148 and PAX6.
(a)(b)(c)


### 3.3. PAX6 Is Low-Expressed in the Aqueous of HM Patients

To verify that PAX6 is modulated by miR-708a/miR-148, we first compared the PAX6 levels in HM patients and cataract patients through RT-qPCR and ELISA, which showed lower PAX6 levels in the Aqueous of HM patients (Figures3(a)–3(b)). Besides, PAX6 was negatively correlated with miR-708a and mIR-148 (Figures 3(c)–3(d)), and positively correlated with the visual acuity level of the patients (Figure 3(e)).Figure 3
PAX6 is upregulated in neonatal retinopathy patients, in comparison with healthy participants. (a~b) qRT-PCR and ELISA to detect PAX6 levels in Aqueous of HM patients and cataract patients. (c~d) Pearson’s analysis of miR-708a/miR-148 with PAX6 levels. (e) Pearson’s analysis of PAX6 levels with myopia in HM patients.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


## 3.1. High miR-708a/miR-148 Expression in Aqueous in HM Patients

We discovered 341 miRNAs in the Aqueous of HM eyes by sequencing (Figure1(a)). Based on it, we selected miR-708a and miR-148 as the two miRNAs with the most significant expression differences in sequencing. The miR-708a and miR-148 levels in the Aqueous detected by qPCR were markedly higher in HM patients than cataract patients (Figure 1(b)). Besides, we analyzed the correlation between the myopia of HM patients and miR-708a/miR-148 expression, and we noticed that as miR-708a/miR-148 expression increased, the patients also had notably higher reading (Figure 1(c)).Figure 1
High miR-708a/miR-148 expression in the Aqueous of HM patients. Figure1(a) shows the DE miRNAs in the Aqueous of HM patients analyzed by sequencing. Figure 1(b) shows that qRT-PCR detected the miR-708a and miR-148 expression in HM patients and cataract patients.
(a)(b)(c)


## 3.2. miR-708a/miR-148 Targeted PAX6

To further clarify the mechanism of action of miR-708a/miR-148, we used TargetScan and RNA Hybrid website to predict and screen miR-708a/miR-148 downstream targets, and we screened to PAX6 (Figure2(a)). Subsequently, we first verified the target binding relationship between miR-708a and miR-148 and PAX6 using dual luciferase, respectively, and we found reduced luciferase activity in 293T cells delivered with miR-708a and miR-148mimic, and no apparent change in cells with mimic NC or PAX6-MT (Figures 2(b)–2(c)), indicating that miR-708a and miR-148 can have a target binding relationship with the 3′-UTR sequence of PAX6.Figure 2
miR-708a/miR-148 target PAX6. (a) Bioinformatics analysis of miR-708a or miR-148 targeting mRNAs by TargetScan and RNA hybrid software. (b~c) Determination of binding relationship of miR-708a/miR-148 and PAX6.
(a)(b)(c)


## 3.3. PAX6 Is Low-Expressed in the Aqueous of HM Patients

To verify that PAX6 is modulated by miR-708a/miR-148, we first compared the PAX6 levels in HM patients and cataract patients through RT-qPCR and ELISA, which showed lower PAX6 levels in the Aqueous of HM patients (Figures3(a)–3(b)). Besides, PAX6 was negatively correlated with miR-708a and mIR-148 (Figures 3(c)–3(d)), and positively correlated with the visual acuity level of the patients (Figure 3(e)).Figure 3
PAX6 is upregulated in neonatal retinopathy patients, in comparison with healthy participants. (a~b) qRT-PCR and ELISA to detect PAX6 levels in Aqueous of HM patients and cataract patients. (c~d) Pearson’s analysis of miR-708a/miR-148 with PAX6 levels. (e) Pearson’s analysis of PAX6 levels with myopia in HM patients.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


## 4. Discussion

Without enough intervention, the current prevalence of myopia is supposed to 50% of the world’s population by 2050 and become the main reason of irreversible blindness. Though the main symptom blurred vision can be improved through contact lenses, glasses, or refractive surgery, correcting myopia, especially HM, is still in risk of secondary blinding complications, like myopic maculopathy, glaucoma, and retinal detachment, so it needs to be prevented [28]. This is particularly of concern for HM patients [> −5 Dioptres (D)] who have the risk of pathologic myopia and other related eye diseases such as retinal detachment, choroidal neovascularization, glaucoma, and myopic macular degeneration [29, 30]. Pathological myopia is the chief contributor to visual disturbance and blindness in Asian [31].Tears, vitreous humor, and AqH are main sources of fluids containing extracellular miRNAs in eyes [32, 33]. Several reports have revealed highly expressed miR-29a in AqH of myopia patients and it prevented collagen I synthesis in SF cells, indicating its importance in myopia development [34]. The AqH analysis is very useful to study the molecular mechanism of axial elongation essential for myopia and to understand the role in HM, which will help to develop new therapeutic approaches [35, 36]. As an intraocular fluid, AqH provides nutrition and eliminates metabolic wastes from avascular tissues, which is utilized to determine the link of changed protein levels and prognoses of several eye diseases [37, 38]. Nevertheless, no proteomic study has reported the mechanism behind HM-induced eye injury. Proteomics could display high-throughput quantitative protein levels, providing theoretical foundation and methods to verify the mechanism [39]. Recent research showed miR-328 was higher in peripheral blood of myopia patients than controls [18]. PAX6 is a key player in eye development and shows low expression in myopia patients [40, 41]. Some studies have provided a comprehensive miRNA profiling of AqH in HM through next-generation sequencing. Regarding aberrant expression of miRNAs in myopia, combined with informatics analyses, it is suggested to confirm these results [42].Our experiment was completed in three steps. First, we selected miR-708a and miR-148 as the two miRNAs with the most significant expression differences in sequencing. The expression levels of miR-708a and miR-148 detected using qPCR were notably higher in atrial fluid of HM patients than cataract patients, and we found that miR-708a/miR-148 were markedly higher in atrial fluid of HM patients. Then, to clarify the mechanism of miR-708a/miR-148, we used TargetScan and RNA Hybrid website to predict and screen the downstream targets of miR-708a/miR-148. We screened to PAX6, and we confirmed that miR-708a and miR-148 target PAX6 mRNA 3′-UTR sequence. Finally, RT-qPCR and Western blotting examined the level of lncRNA, miRNA, mRNAs, and proteins. Functional experiments measured cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. Additionally, the luciferase assay validated the relation of ZFPM2-AS1, miR-511-3p, and PAX6 [43]. With the attention to confirm that PAX6 is modulated by miR-708a/miR-148, we firstly compared PAX6 levels in atrial water from HM patients and cataract patients by RT-qPCR and ELISA, which revealed elevated PAX6 in serum of neonatal retinopathy patients relative to healthy participants. However, this study may have a positive bias, since the older the age, the greater the choroidal atrophy [44]. Although some therapeutic interventions have improved the HM, its pathogenesis is still unclear.


## 5. Conclusion

In summary, miR-708a and miR-148 are significantly highly expressed in atrial tissues of patients with HM, which may be related to the pathogenesis of myopia and are potential biomarkers. The current study provides a holistic view of miRNA profile in AqH of HM eyes. Those features are possibly related to the pathogenesis of myopia and are underlying biomarkers. Our study will yield good results in safety, predictability, efficacy, and stability.However, there are some limitations. As a single-site and single-arm study with relatively small sample size, it cannot be directly compared with other treatment designs. In addition, the lack of multiple clinical trials is one of our limitations. Long-term, careful follow-up of more patients is warranted to confirm our preliminary findings, and it is a target to become our treatment strategy.



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*Source: 3363830-2022-10-13.xml*