Department of Cardiology, Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital, Zaozhuang City, P.R. China.
Department of Internal Medicine, Zaozhuang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zaozhuang City, P.R. China.
J Int Med Res. 2020 Feb;48(2):300060519896150. doi: 10.1177/0300060519896150.
The study investigated expression of microRNA (miR)-421 in plaques, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and serum from patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
Thirty-three patients with coronary atherosclerosis and 29 healthy individuals were included. Plaque tissue and adjacent intimal tissue were collected from patients. Peripheral blood was collected from patients and healthy individuals. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine expression of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 () mRNA and miR-421. Western blotting was used to measure expression of CXCL2 protein in plaques and PBMCs, and ELISA was used to detect serum levels of CXCL2. A dual luciferase reporter assay was carried out to test whether mRNA directly interacts with miR-421.
Patients with coronary atherosclerosis had elevated expression of CXCL2 mRNA and protein in plaques, PBMCs, and serum compared with healthy controls but reduced expression of miR-421. The dual luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-421 could bind with the 3′-untranslated seed region of mRNA to regulate its expression.
We demonstrated that elevated expression of CXCL2 in plaques, PBMCs, and serum of patients with coronary atherosclerosis was related to downregulation of miR-421 expression. miR-421 plays a role in the occurrence of coronary atherosclerosis, probably through CXCL2.
研究探讨了微 RNA（miR）-421 在动脉粥样硬化斑块、外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）和血清中的表达。
纳入 33 例冠状动脉粥样硬化患者和 29 例健康个体。从患者中采集斑块组织和相邻内膜组织。从患者和健康个体中采集外周血。采用实时定量 PCR 测定 CXCL2mRNA 和 miR-421 的表达。采用 Western blot 测定斑块和 PBMC 中 CXCL2 蛋白的表达，采用 ELISA 法检测血清中 CXCL2 的水平。采用双荧光素酶报告基因检测证实 CXCL2mRNA 是否直接与 miR-421 相互作用。
与健康对照组相比，动脉粥样硬化患者的斑块、PBMC 和血清中 CXCL2mRNA 和蛋白表达升高，而 miR-421 表达降低。双荧光素酶报告基因检测显示，miR-421 可与 CXCL2mRNA 的 3′-非翻译区种子区结合，调节其表达。
我们证实，动脉粥样硬化患者斑块、PBMC 和血清中 CXCL2 的高表达与 miR-421 表达下调有关。miR-421 通过 CXCL2 参与了冠状动脉粥样硬化的发生。
