miR-28-5p improved carotid artery stenosis by regulating vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration

miR-28-5p targeted Rap1b attenuates splenic inflammation infiltration in immune thrombocytopenia

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease with isolated platelet count decrease. A subset of patients responds inferiorly to the first-line therapies including glucocorticoid and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), of which the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. We first found that expression of miR-28-5p was obviously increased in complete responders, and decreased to substantially low levels in partial or non-responders. In the passive ITP model, upregulation of miR-28-5p by injecting agomir slightly improved thrombocytopenia, and obviously inhibited the Rap1b gene expression. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated there was significant decrease of luciferase activity in 293T cells co-transfected with miR-28-5p mimics and plasmids with Rap1b wide-type sequence. Upregulation of miR-28-5p, and downregulation of Rap1b played a favorable role in reducing B cell infiltration in the marginal zone of spleen in mice. However, miR-28-5p exhibited no significant influence on megakaryocyte maturation in ITP both in vitro and in vivo studies. Finally, we confirmed that miR-28-5p upregulation was associated with superior early treatment response in ITP, and possibly functioned by targeting Rap1b gene to inhibit humoral immunity.

Prospective Study of lncRNA NORAD for Predicting Cerebrovascular Events in Asymptomatic Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis

BACKGROUND

Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) may cause many cerebrovascular diseases, and a biomarker for screening and monitoring is needed. This study focused on the clinical significance of long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) non-coding RNA activated by DNA damage (NORAD) in patients with CAS and aimed to search for potential biomarkers of CAS.

METHODS

Eighty-six asymptomatic patients with CAS and 60 healthy individuals were enrolled, with corresponding clinical data and serum samples collected. The expression of NORAD was detected by reverse transcription-quantitive PCR (RT-qPCR). All patients were followed up for 2 years to collected the occurrence data of cerebrovascular events, and Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used for data analysis. Receiver operator characteristic curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of NORAD in distinguishing CAS patients from healthy people, and to evaluate the prediction accuracy of NORAD.

RESULTS

NORAD is overexpressed in the serum of CAS patients, and associated with patients' hypertension, TC, LDL-C levels and stenosis degree. NORAD has high sensitivity (88.37%) and specificity (80.00%) in the identification of CAS patients (AUC = 0.917). NORAD was independently related to the occurrence of cerebrovascular events (HR = 2.435, P = .003). a logistic regression risk model for predicting cerebrovascular events was constructed with the parameters including NORAD, TC and LDL.

CONCLUSION

NORAD can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CAS, and NORAD, total cholesterol (TC), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) can be independently correlated to predict cerebrovascular events.

Circulating miR-28-5p is overexpressed in patients with sarcopenia despite long-term remission of Cushing's syndrome: a pilot study

Introduction

Patients with Cushing's syndrome (CS) in remission show sustained fatigue, myopathy, and an increased prevalence of sarcopenia. The mechanisms that determine these persistent muscle problems are not well known. We aimed to identify circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) with differential expression that could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and/or prognosis in CS.

Patients and methods

Thirty-six women in sustained remission for 13 ± 7 years (mean ± SD) from CS, with a median age (IQ range) of 51 (45.2-60) years and mean ± SD BMI of 27 ± 4 Kg/m2, and 36 matched healthy controls were investigated. In 7 patients sarcopenia was present according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) criteria. Small RNA libraries were generated and indexed using a modified Illumina TruSeq small RNA-sequencing protocol. MiRNAs were identified in plasma using bioinformatic analysis, and validation was carried out using RT-qPCR. For the validation, Taqman probes were performed on QuantStudio 5 equipment (Applied Biosystems).

Results

In a first discovery group using RNA-sequencing, plasma samples of 18 CS patients and 18 healthy subjects were investigated; circulating miR-28-5p, miR-495-3p and miR-654-5p were upregulated in CS patients as compared with controls (p<0.05). In a validation study of the 3 upregulated miRNAs in 36 patients and 26 controls, no differences were observed by RT-qPCR; however, the expression of circulating miR-28-5p was upregulated in CS patients with sarcopenia as compared with those without (AUC for fold-change in the ROC analysis, 0.798; p=0.0156). The optimized cut-off value for miR-28-5p to identify CS patients with sarcopenia was 3.80, which yielded a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 69%.

Conclusion

MiR-28-5p, a muscle-specific microRNA involved in myotube proliferation and differentiation in vivo, may serve as an independent non-invasive biomarker for identifying CS patients at high-risk of sarcopenia despite biochemical remission.

Postoperative serum mir-28-5p level has predictive value for the prognosis after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

BACKGROUND

We explored the clinical significance of miR-28-5p pre- and post-endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients.

METHODS

Subjects included AAA patients receiving EVAR and non-AAA people without statistical differences from AAA patient in comorbidities/Framingham risk score. Fasting elbow venous blood (4 mL) was collected in the morning of the day of EVAR surgery and in the morning of 3 months post-EVAR. Pre-/post-EVAR serum miR-28-5p expression, AAA maximum diameter alterations, CD3+/CD4+/CD8+/TC/TG pre-/post-EVAR, and the correlations between miR-28-5p and AAA maximum diameter were investigated. Prediction of miR-28-5p on post-EVAR mortality, prognosis, and independent factors of post-EVAR death were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC)/Kaplan-Meier curve/univariable and multivariable Cox regression. According to the cut-off value of ROC curve for postoperative miR-28-5p was the cut-off value, and the patients were classified into the miR-28-5p high- and low-expression groups. The survival or death of both groups were compared after 48-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Serum miR-28-5p levels in AAA patients dropped post-EVAR. AAA patients showed notable differences in CD3+/CD4+/CD8+/TC/TG levels pre-/post-EVAR. The miR-28-5p low-expression group exhibited higher CD3+/CD4+ and lower CD8+/TC/TG levels. We observed a positive correlation between post-EVAR miR-28-5p and AAA maximum diameter and between the pre-/post-EVAR miR-28-5p fold change and the AAA maximum diameter change. Postoperative miR-28-5p demonstrated good predictive value for postoperative death. Hypertension, Framingham risk score, TC, TG, and miR-28-5p were independent influencing factors of post-EVAR death.

CONCLUSION

EVAR decreased serum miR-28-5p expression in AAA patients. Post-operative miR-28-5p level and pre-/post-operative fold change level are positively-correlated with AAA diameter.

Differential expression profile of miRNAs between stable and vulnerable plaques of carotid artery stenosis patients

Plaque vulnerability is associated with the degree of carotid artery stenosis (CS) and the risk of stroke. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exert critical functions in disease progression, although only a few miRNAs have been well identified in CS. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the differential expression profile of miRNAs and their potential functions in plaques of CS patients. Three CS patients with stable plaques and three patients with vulnerable plaques who underwent carotid endarterectomy were enrolled in this study. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) between patients with stable and vulnerable plaques were determined using small RNA sequencing. Target genes of DEmiRNAs were predicted and submitted to functional analyses. Validation of dysregulated DEmiRNAs was determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). After sequencing, 76 DEmiRNAs were identified in vulnerable plaques, including 53 upregulated miRNAs and 23 downregulated miRNAs. Next, 23,495 target genes of the identified DEmiRNAs were predicted and functionally analyzed. This indicated that the target genes of the identified DEmiRNAs were mainly enriched in protein phosphorylation, transcription, nitrogen compound metabolism, endocytosis and autophagy, and related to signaling pathways of Hippo, MAPK, insulin, TGF-β, FoxO, AMPK and p53. Furthermore, qRT-PCR results for six miRNAs showed that five (83%) of them (hsa-miR-511-5p, hsa-miR-150-5p, hsa-miR-378a-5p, hsa-miR-365b-5p and hsa-miR-6511b-5p) were consistent with the sequencing results. Differential expression profiles and potential function of miRNAs associated with plaque stability in CS patients are identified for the first time, which should help to understand the regulatory mechanism of plaque stability in CS.

A burst of genomic innovation at the origin of placental mammals mediated embryo implantation

The origin of embryo implantation in mammals ~148 million years ago was a dramatic shift in reproductive strategy, yet the molecular changes that established mammal implantation are largely unknown. Although progesterone receptor signalling predates the origin of mammals and is highly conserved in, and critical for, successful mammal pregnancy, it alone cannot explain the origin and subsequent diversity of implantation strategies throughout the placental mammal radiation. MiRNAs are known to be flexible and dynamic regulators with a well-established role in the pathophysiology of mammal placenta. We propose that a dynamic core microRNA (miRNA) network originated early in placental mammal evolution, responds to conserved mammal pregnancy cues (e.g. progesterone), and facilitates species-specific responses. Here we identify 13 miRNA gene families that arose at the origin of placental mammals and were subsequently retained in all descendent lineages. The expression of these miRNAs in response to early pregnancy molecules is regulated in a species-specific manner in endometrial epithelia of species with extreme implantation strategies (i.e. bovine and human). Furthermore, this set of miRNAs preferentially target proteins under positive selective pressure on the ancestral eutherian lineage. Discovery of this core embryo implantation toolkit and specifically adapted proteins helps explain the origin and evolution of implantation in mammals.

Clinical Parameters and Epigenetic Biomarkers of Plaque Vulnerability in Patients with Carotid Stenosis

Atheromatous disease is the first cause of death and dependency in developed countries and carotid artery atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of severe ischaemic strokes. Current management strategies are mainly based on the degree of stenosis and patient selection has limited accuracy. This information could be complemented by the identification of biomarkers of plaque vulnerability, which would permit patients at greater and lesser risk of stroke to be distinguished, thus enabling a better selection of patients for surgical or intensive medical treatment. Although several circulating protein-based biomarkers with significance for both the diagnosis of carotid artery disease and its prognosis have been identified, at present, none have been clinically implemented. This review focuses especially on the most relevant clinical parameters to take into account in routine clinical practice and summarises the most up-to-date data on epigenetic biomarkers of carotid atherosclerosis and plaque vulnerability.

MicroRNA-375-3p is implicated in carotid artery stenosis by promoting the cell proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells

Background

Atherosclerosis is the main cause of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) which mostly occurs in the elderly. In this paper, the expression level of miR-375-3p in asymptomatic CAS patients and its diagnostic value for asymptomatic CAS were investigated, and the effects of miR-375-3p on the cell proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was further explored.

Methods

98 healthy subjects and 101 asymptomatic CAS patients were participated in this study. qRT-PCR was used to measure the expression level of serum miR-375-3p, and the ROC curve was established to evaluate the predictive value of miR-375-3p for asymptomatic CAS. After transfection with miR-375-3p mimic or inhibitor in vitro, cell proliferation and migration were detected by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, and Transwell assay, respectively. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 were detected by ELISA. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of XIAP. Finally, luciferase reporter gene assay was applied to assess the interaction of miR-375-3p with target genes.

Results

The expression level of serum miR-375-3p in asymptomatic CAS patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls, and the AUC value of ROC curve was 0.888. The sensitivity and specificity were 80.2 and 86.7%, respectively, indicating that miR-375-3p had high diagnostic value for asymptomatic CAS. In vitro cell experiments showed that up-regulation of miR-375-3p significantly promoted the proliferation and migration of VSMCs, and also promoted the generation of inflammatory factors and phenotypic transformation of VSMCs. Luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that XIAP was a target gene of miR-375-3p and was negatively regulated by miR-375-3p.

Conclusions

In this study, miR-375-3p may have a clinical diagnostic value for asymptomatic CAS patients which need further validation. Increased miR-375-3p levels in CAS may be associated with increased proliferation and migration of VSMCs via downregulation of the apoptosis inducing gene XIAP.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-021-02326-6.