MiR-1303 Regulates Mycobacteria Induced Autophagy by Targeting Atg2B

Abstract

MicroRNAs are emerging post-transcriptional regulators of gene expressions in both innate immunity and adaptive immunity. In mycobacteria infection, autophagy plays an important role in innate defense mechanism and is tightly regulated by the autophagy-related proteins. Here, we show that Atg2B is involved in the regulation of mycobacteria-induced autophagy. MiR-1303, which function is not defined yet, is found to negatively regulate mycobacteria-induced Atg2B protein production, ultimately down-regulate mycobacteria-induced autophagy. MiR-1303 production is shown to be upregulated during BCG infection and its production is regulated by PI3K and NFκB. It is also demonstrated that miR-1303 targets putative target sites on Atg2B and possibly represses its translation.