%0 Journal Article %@ 1757-4684 %A Ruiz-Camp, J %A Quantius, J %A Lignelli, E %A Arndt, PF %A Palumbo, F %A Nardiello, C %A Surate Solaligue, DE %A Sakkas, E %A Mižíková, I %A Rodríguez-Castillo, JA %A Vadász, I %A Richardson, WD %A Ahlbrecht, K %A Herold, S %A Seeger, W %A Morty, RE %D 2019 %F discovery:10068875 %J EMBO Molecular Medicine %K Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, hyperoxia, lung development, miR‐34a, platelet‐derived growth factor %N 2 %T Targeting miR-34a/Pdgfra interactions partially corrects alveologenesis in experimental bronchopulmonary dysplasia %U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10068875/ %V 11 %X Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common complication of preterm birth characterized by arrested lung alveolarization, which generates lungs that are incompetent for effective gas exchange. We report here deregulated expression of miR-34a in a hyperoxia-based mouse model of BPD, where miR-34a expression was markedly increased in platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)α-expressing myofibroblasts, a cell type critical for proper lung alveolarization. Global deletion of miR-34a; and inducible, conditional deletion of miR-34a in PDGFRα+ cells afforded partial protection to the developing lung against hyperoxia-induced perturbations to lung architecture. Pdgfra mRNA was identified as the relevant miR-34a target, and using a target site blocker in vivo, the miR-34a/Pdgfra interaction was validated as a causal actor in arrested lung development. An antimiR directed against miR-34a partially restored PDGFRα+ myofibroblast abundance and improved lung alveolarization in newborn mice in an experimental BPD model. We present here the first identification of a pathology-relevant microRNA/mRNA target interaction in aberrant lung alveolarization and highlight the translational potential of targeting the miR-34a/Pdgfra interaction to manage arrested lung development associated with preterm birth. %Z This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/