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The present study investigated the modulation of T-helper 17 (Th17) cell differentiation by the miR-21\/Smad7\/TGF-\u03b2 pathway, and their roles in COPD. Lung tissues were obtained from lung cancer patients with or without COPD who underwent lobotomy and the levels of miR-21, TGF-\u03b2\/Smad signaling molecules, ROR\u03b3T, and other Th17-related cytokines were detected. Mouse COPD models were built by exposing both wild-type (WT) and miR-21\n                    <jats:sup>\u2212\/\u2212<\/jats:sup>\n                    mice to cigarette smoke (CS) and cigarette smoke extract (CSE) intraperitoneal injection. Isolated primary CD4\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    T cells were treated with either CS extract, miR-21 mimics or inhibitors, followed by measuring Th17 cells markers and the expression of TGF-\u03b2\/Smad signaling molecules and ROR\u03b3T. Increased levels of miR-21, Smad7, phosphorylated (p)-Smad2, p-Smad3, TGF-\u03b2, and Th17-related cytokines was detected in the lungs of COPD patients. Lung function in modeled WT mice, but not miR-21\n                    <jats:sup>\u2212\/\u2212<\/jats:sup>\n                    ones, deteriorated and the number of inflammatory cells in the lung tissues increased compared to the control WT-mice. Moreover, primary CD4\n                    <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                    lymphocytes tend to differentiate into Th17 cells after the treatment with CSE or miR-21 mimics, and the expression of ROR\u03b3T and the TGF-\u03b2\/Smad signaling were all increased, however miR-21 inhibitors worked reversely. Our findings demonstrated that Th17 cells increased under COPD pathogenesis and was partially modulated by the miR-21\/Smad7\/TGF-\u03b2 pathway.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-85637-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,18]],"date-time":"2021-03-18T12:47:41Z","timestamp":1616071661000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["The effects of the miR-21\/SMAD7\/TGF-\u03b2 pathway on Th17 cell differentiation in COPD"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Shengyang","family":"He","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shenghua","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junjuan","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lili","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiang","family":"Mei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liqiu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhengpeng","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mubin","family":"Zhong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lihua","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"85637_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1706","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)30841-9","volume":"391","author":"C Wang","year":"2018","unstructured":"Wang, C. et al. 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