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Updated: Aug 27, 2025
Digital PCR for Quantifying Circulating MicroRNAs in Acute Myocardial Infarction and Cardiovascular Disease
Published on: July 3, 2018
Differential expression pattern, bioinformatics analysis, and validation of circRNA and mRNA in patients with
Yunyun Liu1,2, Kangjie Wang3, Guanhua Li4
1Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Insights
This study identifies novel circular RNAs (circRNAs) involved in arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO). Knocking down circRNA-0008706 suppressed cell proliferation and migration, suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target for ASO.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Arteriosclerosis Obliterans (ASO) involves plaque buildup in lower limb arteries, leading to amputation and impacting patient health.
- ASO incidence is rising, affecting younger populations, highlighting the need for better understanding.
- Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are implicated in various diseases, but their role in ASO pathogenesis remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differential expression of circRNAs and mRNAs in ASO arterial specimens.
- To construct a competing endogenous (ceRNA) network specific to ASO.
- To explore the functional role of a specific circRNA, circRNA-0008706, in ASO pathogenesis.
Main Methods:
- Second-generation sequencing of arterial tissues from ASO patients and healthy donors.
- Bioinformatic analysis to identify differentially expressed circRNAs and mRNAs and construct a ceRNA network.
- Validation using PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis; functional analysis via siRNA-mediated knockdown of circRNA-0008706 in human arterial smooth muscle cells (HASMCs).
Main Results:
- Identified 480 differentially expressed circRNAs and 2,997 differentially expressed mRNAs.
- Enriched pathways included epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and lipid transport.
- Knockdown of circRNA-0008706 inhibited HASMC proliferation and migration and reduced BCAT1 expression, potentially via interaction with microRNA-125b-5p.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first comprehensive comparison of circRNA and mRNA profiles in ASO.
- A novel ASO-specific ceRNA network was constructed.
- circRNA-0008706 emerges as a potential therapeutic target for ASO.
Background:
Lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) is the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in lower limb arteries, leading to vascular stenosis and occlusion, and is a major factor leading to lower limb amputation. The ASO seriously endangers the physical and mental health of patients. As living standards improve, the disease tends to occur in younger patients, and the incidence keeps increasing year by year. The circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to be tissue-specific, and they play an important role in a variety of diseases, but there are few studies on the pathogenic role and expression of circRNAs in ASOs.
Method:
Three diseased arteries from patients with ASO and three healthy arteries from healthy donors were collected for second-generation sequencing, and the pathogenic pathways and possible pathogenic circRNAs related to ASO were screened through bioinformatics analysis. PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis were used to validate the sequencing results. The expression of circRNA-0008706 in human arterial smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) was knocked down using siRNA technology to explore its function.
Result:
We identified 480 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs and 2,997 DEmRNAs. Functional analysis revealed that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), lipid transport, regulation of extracellular matrix disassembly, regulation of cardiac muscle cell proliferation, branched-chain amino acid biosynthetic process, and positive regulation of cell growth and migration were enriched. Based on our previous microRNA array results, we constructed an ASO disease-specific competing endogenous (ceRNA) network. After validation, circRNA-0008706 was selected for functional analysis. Knockdown of circRNA-0008706 significantly suppressed the proliferation and migration phenotype of HASMCs and decreased the BCAT1 expression, which may be due to the specific binding of circRNA-0008706 to microRNA-125b-5p.
Conclusion:
This study is the first to compare the circRNA and mRNA expression profiles of ASOs and healthy arterial specimens and to construct a disease-specific ceRNA network for ASOs. This study may provide a new therapeutic target for ASO.
