Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Key Laboratory of Medical Biotechnology of Hebei Province, Institute of Medicine and Health, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Stem Cell Translational Research Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
J Cell Mol Med. 2020 Apr;24(8):4762-4772. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.15150. Epub 2020 Mar 10.
Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation is the pathological base of vascular remodelling diseases. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are important regulators involved in various biological processes. However, the function of circRNAs in VSMC proliferation regulation remains largely unknown. This study was conducted to identify the key differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) and predict their functions in human aortic smooth muscle cell (HASMC) proliferation. To achieve this, DEcircRNAs between proliferative and quiescent HASMCs were detected using a microarray, followed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR validation. A DEcircRNA-miRNA-DEmRNA network was constructed, and functional annotation was performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analysis. The function of hsa_circ_0002579 in HASMC proliferation was analysed by Western blot. The functional annotation of the DEcircRNA-miRNA-DEmRNA network indicated that the four DEcircRNAs might play roles in the TGF-β receptor signalling pathway, Ras signalling pathway, AMPK signalling pathway and Wnt signalling pathway. Twenty-seven DEcircRNAs with coding potential were screened. Hsa_circ_0002579 might be a pro-proliferation factor of HASMC. Overall, our study identified the key DEcircRNAs between proliferative and quiescent HASMCs, which might provide new important clues for exploring the functions of circRNAs in vascular remodelling diseases.
血管平滑肌细胞（VSMC）增殖是血管重构疾病的病理基础。环状 RNA（circRNA）是参与多种生物学过程的重要调控因子。然而，circRNA 在 VSMC 增殖调控中的功能仍知之甚少。本研究旨在鉴定关键差异表达的 circRNA（DEcircRNA），并预测其在人主动脉平滑肌细胞（HASMC）增殖中的功能。为此，采用微阵列检测增殖和静止 HASMC 之间的 DEcircRNA，并用定量实时 RT-PCR 进行验证。构建了 DEcircRNA-miRNA-DEmRNA 网络，并通过基因本体（GO）和 KEGG 通路分析进行功能注释。通过 Western blot 分析 hsa_circ_0002579 在 HASMC 增殖中的功能。DEcircRNA-miRNA-DEmRNA 网络的功能注释表明，这四个 DEcircRNA 可能在 TGF-β 受体信号通路、Ras 信号通路、AMPK 信号通路和 Wnt 信号通路中发挥作用。筛选出 27 个具有编码潜力的 DEcircRNA。hsa_circ_0002579 可能是 HASMC 的促增殖因子。总之，本研究鉴定了增殖和静止 HASMC 之间的关键 DEcircRNA，为探索 circRNA 在血管重构疾病中的功能提供了新的重要线索。
