SMILR Aggravates the Progression of Atherosclerosis by Sponging miR-10b-3p to Regulate KLF5 Expression

Over the past few decades, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been widely accepted to be involved in various diseases, and smooth muscle enriched long noncoding RNA (SMILR) was reported to participate in the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms of SMILR in atherosclerosis (AS) have not been fully explored. In this study, VSMCs and human mononuclear cells (U937) treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) were used as cell models of AS. We found that the expression of SMILR was upregulated in the serum of AS patients and ox-LDL-induced AS cell models. SMILR knockdown inhibited cell proliferation while increasing cell apoptosis in the AS cell models. In addition, SMILR acted as a sponge for miR-10b-3p, and miR-10b-3p counteracted SMILR-mediated regulation of AS. Moreover, we confirmed that miR-10b-3p could bind with KLF5, and SMILR regulated KLF5 expression by competitively binding miR-10b-3p. Furthermore, miR-10b-3p modulated cell proliferation and apoptosis in AS by targeting KLF5. Finally, miR-10b-3p regulated AS progression in vivo by targeting KLF5. Overall, our study demonstrated that SMILR participated in the progression of AS by targeting the miR-10b-3p/KLF5 axis, which may provide some clues for future studies of AS.