Laboratory of Cardiovascular Immunology, Institute of Cardiology, Union Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Cell Mol Immunol. 2011 Nov;8(6):486-95. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2011.22. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small, non-coding RNAs that play a significant role in both inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. Immune cells, especially T helper (Th) cells, are critical in the development of atherosclerosis and the onset of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). To assess whether inflammation-related miRNAs (such as miR-155, 146a, 21, 125a-5p, 125b, 31) are involved in the imbalance of Th cell subsets in patients with ACS, we measured the expression of related miRNAs in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), unstable angina (UA), stable angina (SA) and chest pain syndrome (CPS); analyzed the relationship between miRNA expression and the frequency of Th cell subsets; and observed the co-expression of miR-155 and IL-17A in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with ACS. The results showed that the expression of miR-155 in the PBMCs of patients with ACS was decreased by approximately 60%, while the expression of both miR-21 and miR-146a was increased by approximately twofold. The expression patterns of miRNAs in plasma correlated with those in PBMCs, except for miR-21, which was increased by approximately sixfold in the AMI group and showed no significant difference between the UA group and the CPS group. We also found that the expression of miR-155 inversely correlated with the frequency of Th17 cells (r=-0.896, P<0.01) and that miR-155 was co-expressed with IL-17A in patients with ACS. In conclusion, our study revealed the expression patterns of inflammation-related miRNAs in patients with ACS and found that miR-155 may be associated with Th17 cell differentiation.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是一类新型的小非编码 RNA，在炎症和心血管疾病中发挥重要作用。免疫细胞，尤其是辅助性 T 细胞（Th），在动脉粥样硬化的发展和急性冠状动脉综合征（ACS）的发生中起着关键作用。为了评估炎症相关 miRNA（如 miR-155、146a、21、125a-5p、125b、31）是否参与 ACS 患者 Th 细胞亚群失衡，我们测量了急性心肌梗死（AMI）、不稳定型心绞痛（UA）、稳定型心绞痛（SA）和胸痛综合征（CPS）患者相关 miRNA 的表达；分析 miRNA 表达与 Th 细胞亚群频率之间的关系；并观察 ACS 患者外周血单个核细胞（PBMCs）中 miR-155 与 IL-17A 的共表达。结果表明，ACS 患者 PBMCs 中 miR-155 的表达降低了约 60%，而 miR-21 和 miR-146a 的表达增加了约两倍。血浆中 miRNA 的表达模式与 PBMCs 中的表达模式相关，除了 miR-21，其在 AMI 组中增加了约六倍，在 UA 组和 CPS 组之间无显著差异。我们还发现，miR-155 的表达与 Th17 细胞的频率呈负相关（r=-0.896，P<0.01），且 miR-155 在 ACS 患者中与 IL-17A 共表达。总之，我们的研究揭示了 ACS 患者中炎症相关 miRNA 的表达模式，并发现 miR-155 可能与 Th17 细胞分化有关。
