Overexpression of miRNA-410-3p protects hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury via targeting TRAF5

Non-coding RNAs to regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation: A new trend in therapeutic cardiac regeneration

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide, particularly ischemic heart disease (IHD). It is also classified as incurable given the irreversible damage it causes to cardiomyocytes. Thus, myocardial tissue rejuvenation following ischemia is one of the global primary research concerns for scientists. Interestingly, the mammalian heart thrives after an injury during the embryonic or neonatal period; however, this ability disappears with increasing age. Previous studies have found that specific non-coding (nc) RNAs play a pivotal role in this process. Hence, the review herein summarizes the research on cardiomyocyte regenerative medicine in recent years and sets forth the biological functions and mechanisms of the micro (mi)RNA, long non-coding (lnc)RNA, and circular (circ)RNA in the posttranscriptional regulation of cardiomyocytes. In addition, this review summarizes the roles of ncRNAs in specific species while enumerating potential therapeutic strategies for myocardial infarction.

Rapid changes of miRNAs-20, -30, -410, -515, -134, and -183 and telomerase with psychological activity: A one year study on the relaxation response and epistemological considerations

Background and aim

Mental stress represents a pivotal factor in cardiovascular diseases. The mechanism by which stress produces its deleterious effects is still under study, but one of the most explored pathways is inflammation-aging and cell senescence. In this scenario, circulating microRNAs appear to be regulatory elements of the telomerase activity and alternative splicing within the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer (NF-κB) network. Anti-stress techniques appeared to be able to slow down the inflammatory and aging processes. As we recently verified, the practice of the relaxation response (RR) counteracted psychological stress and determined favorable changes of the NF-κB, p53, and toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) gene expression and in neurotransmitters, hormones, cytokines, and inflammatory circulating microRNAs. We aimed to verify a possible change in the serum levels of six other micro-RNAs of cardiovascular interest, involved in cell senescence and in the NF-κB network (miRNAs -20, -30, -410, -515, -134, and -183), and tested the activity of telomerase in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

Experimental procedure

We measured the aforementioned molecules in the serum of patients with ischemic heart disease (and healthy controls) immediately before and after a relaxation response session, three times (after the baseline), in one year of follow-up.

Results

According to our data, the miRNA-20 and -30 levels and PBMCs-telomerase activity increased during the RR while the -410 and -515 levels decreased. During the RR sessions, both miRNA-134 and -183 decreased.

Conclusion

The mediators considered in this exploratory work appeared to vary rapidly with the psychological activity (in particular when focused on relaxation techniques) showing that psychological activity should be part of the future research on epigenetics. Epistemological perspectives are also discussed.

Silenced lncRNA DDX11-AS1 or up-regulated microRNA-34a-3p inhibits malignant phenotypes of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via suppression of TRAF5

Background

Studies have discussed long noncoding RNA DDX11-AS1 (DDX11-AS1)-mediated downstream mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The goal of this study was to investigate the regulatory mechanism of DDX11-AS1-mediated microRNA-34a-3p (miR-34a-3p)/tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 5 (TRAF5) axis on HCC cells.

Methods

DDX11-AS1, miR-34a-3p and TRAF5 expression levels in HCC were detected. The correlation of DDX11-AS1, miR-34a-3p and TRAF5 in HCC patients was analyzed by Pearson test. HCC cells were transfected with corresponding plasmid/oligonucleotide, and cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and tumor formation ability were detected. Bioinformatics software, dual luciferase report experiment and RNA-pull down experiment analysis were applied to verify the targeting relationship between DDX11-AS1, miR-34a-3p and TRAF5.

Results

Elevated DDX11-AS1 and TRAF5 and reduced miR-34a-3p exhibited in HCC. Silenced DDX11-AS1 or up-regulated miR-34a-3p inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, promoted apoptosis of HCC cells and repressed the tumor growth in nude mice. In addition, DDX11-AS1 bound to miR-34a-3p to target TRAF5. Silencing TRAF5 or elevating miR-34a-3p expression mitigated up-regulated DDX11-AS1-mediated promotion of tumor growth.

Conclusion

Silenced DDX11-AS1 or up-regulated miR-34a-3p inhibits HCC cell growth via elevation of TRAF5, which could be of great benefit to find early diagnostic markers for HCC patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-021-01847-6.

Myocardial Infarction: The Protective Role of MiRNAs in Myocardium Pathology

Cardiovascular diseases have been regarded as the leading cause of death around the world, with myocardial infarction (MI) being the most severe form. MI leads to myocardial apoptosis, cardiomyocyte fibrosis, and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, ultimately leading to heart failure, and death. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) participate in the genesis and progression of myocardial pathology after MI by playing an important regulatory role. This review aims to summarize all available knowledge on the role of miRNAs in the myocardial pathological process after MI to uncover potential major target pathways. In addition, the main therapeutic methods and their latest progress are also reviewed. miRNAs can regulate the main signaling pathways as well as pathological processes. Thus, they have the potential to induce therapeutic effects. Hence, the combination of miRNAs with recently developed exosome nanocomplexes may represent the future direction of therapeutics.

Identification of microRNA‑363‑3p as an essential regulator of chondrocyte apoptosis in osteoarthritis by targeting NRF1 through the p53‑signaling pathway

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that affects the physical, and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people. The aims of the present study were to determine the biological function and molecular mechanisms of miR-363-3p in chondrocyte apoptosis. Exploration of the molecular mechanisms of OA may be helpful in the understand of the causes, and facilitating the prevention and treatment of OA. In the present study, the expression of nuclear respiratory factor1 (NRF1) was downregulated in the articular cartilage of OA rats in vivo and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated chondrocytes in vitro. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are regulators of gene expression in the progression of OA. TargetScan software was used to predict that NRF1 was a potential target for miRNA (miR)-363, and this was confirmed in subsequent experiments. The expression of miR-363-3p was negatively correlated with the expression of NRF1, and its expression was significantly upregulated in OA model rats and in LPS-induced chondrocytes compared with the expression in the respective controls. In addition, the overexpression of miR-363-3p increased the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in vivo, and was demonstrated to promote chondrocyte injury and apoptosis by Safranin O staining and TUNEL. Moreover, the inhibition of miR-363-3p expression increased the expression of NRF1 and protected chondrocytes from apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, whereas the overexpression of miR-363-3p downregulated NRF1 expression and promoted LPS-induced chondrocyte apoptosis through the p53 pathway in vitro. The results of this study suggested that miR-363-3p-mediated inhibition of NRF1may be associated with chondrocyte apoptosis in OA.