The miR-7/EGFR axis controls the epithelial cell immunomodulation and regeneration and orchestrates the pathology in inflammatory bowel disease

The epithelial immunomodulation and regeneration are fundamental and intrinsic critical events against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). MiR-7 is well implicated as a promising regulator in the pathologies of inflammatory diseases. Herein, we investigate the role of miR-7 in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) in IBD. We found that miR-7 expression, which is mainly derived from miR-7a-1 operated by transcriptional factor C/EBPα, is increased in IECs from IBD model and Crohn's disease patients. MiR-7 controls the immunomodulation and regeneration of epithelial cells through EGFR/NF-κB/ERK/AKT signaling pathways. Epithelial cell-specific miR-7 silencing alleviates the pathology of IBD model. Therefore, our data reveal the unknown role of miR-7/EGFR axis in IEC immunomodulation and regeneration in IBD and might provide a clue for the development of miRNA-based therapeutic strategy applications in colonic diseases.