Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic
pain disorder occurring in an extremity after trauma. CRPS currently
lacks an FDA-approved treatment. Circulating microRNA (miRNA) is a
promising avenue to better understand disease mechanisms. miRNAs
are short RNAs that negatively regulate the translation of genes into
proteins. Dysregulation in miRNA expression has downstream effects
in cellular function that can contribute to disease. Our previous work
identified miRNAs dysregulated in CRPS patients, including miR-106b,
miR-93, and miR-25, which comprise the miR-106b-25 cluster. This study
investigates how expression of this cluster in T cells and monocytes is
affected by monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2),
a proinflammatory chemokine that is upregulated in CRPS patients.
Expression changes in miR-106b, -93, and -25 after MCP-1-treatment
will be determined by quantitative PCR. The data from this study
will inform future studies verifying target genes of these miRNAs and
shifting to an in vivo model for increased clinical relevance.
