Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026
Tissue-specific miRNA Expression Profiling in Mouse Heart Sections Using In Situ Hybridization
Published on: September 15, 2018
Identification of novel microRNAs in the sheep heart and their regulation in heart failure
Lee Lee Wong1,2, Miriam T Rademaker3, Eng Leng Saw1,2
1Cardiovascular Research Institute, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Abstract:
Study of microRNA (miRNAs) using sheep models is limited due to lack of miRNA information. We therefore investigated oar-miRNAs and their regulation in an ovine model of heart failure (HF). Left ventricular (LV) tissue was collected from normal (Cont), HF (LV pacing @ ~220bpm for 13-days) and HF-recovery sheep (HF-R, 26-days after pacing cessation). MiRNA expression was profiled using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and miRNA array, and validated by stem-loop qPCR. Detected sequences were mapped against the ovine genome (Oar v4.0) and aligned with known miRNAs (miRBase v21). A total of 36,438,340 raw reads were obtained with a peak distribution of 18-23 nt. Of these, 637 miRNAs were detected by NGS and mapped to the ovine genome. With cut-off at 10 counts, 275 novel miRNAs were identified (with 186 showing 100% alignment and 89 showing 70-99% alignment with human/mouse and/or rat miRNAs, respectively), and 78 known oar-miRNAs. Cardiac-enriched miRNA-1, -133a, -208a/b and -499 were highly expressed in the LV. With HF induction, miRNA-133b-3p, -208b-3p, -125a-5p, -125b-5p, -126-3p, -21-5p, -210-3p, -29a-3p, -320a and -494-3p were significantly up-regulated relative to Cont and tended to return to normal levels following HF-recovery. This study has expanded the sheep miRNA database, and demonstrated HF-induced regulation of miRNAs.
Insights
This study identifies novel ovine microRNAs (miRNAs) and reveals heart failure (HF) alters miRNA expression in sheep. Findings expand the sheep miRNA database and offer insights into HF regulation.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Genomics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- MicroRNA (miRNA) research in sheep is limited by a lack of comprehensive miRNA information.
- Understanding miRNA regulation is crucial for studying cardiovascular diseases like heart failure (HF).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate ovine microRNAs (oar-miRNAs) and their expression patterns in a sheep model of heart failure (HF).
- To expand the sheep miRNA database and identify HF-induced miRNA regulatory changes.
Main Methods:
- Left ventricular tissue from normal, HF-induced, and HF-recovery sheep was analyzed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and miRNA arrays.
- miRNA expression was profiled, sequences mapped to the ovine genome, and validated via stem-loop qPCR.
- Novel and known oar-miRNAs were identified and quantified.
Main Results:
- A total of 637 miRNAs were detected, including 275 novel miRNAs and 78 known oar-miRNAs.
- Cardiac-enriched miRNAs (e.g., miRNA-1, -133a, -208a/b, -499) showed high expression in the left ventricle.
- HF induction led to significant upregulation of specific miRNAs (e.g., miRNA-133b-3p, -208b-3p, -125a-5p), which tended to normalize post-recovery.
Conclusions:
- This study significantly expands the ovine miRNA database.
- Heart failure induces distinct changes in miRNA expression in the ovine heart.
- The findings provide a foundation for further research into miRNA roles in ovine cardiovascular health and disease.
