Integrated analysis of miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and functional verification of miR-338-3p in coronary heart

Jie Qi1,2, Wenqi Han1, Nier Zhong1

  • 1Second Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, 710068, People's Republic of China.

Insights

Researchers identified miR-338-3p and RPS23 as key players in coronary heart disease (CHD) progression. MiR-338-3p shows potential as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for this cardiovascular disease.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Biology
  • Molecular Medicine
  • Biomarker Discovery

Background:

  • Coronary heart disease (CHD) presents significant morbidity and mortality despite treatment advances.
  • Prognosis for CHD patients remains poor, necessitating novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for coronary heart disease progression.
  • To elucidate the role of specific microRNA-messenger RNA (miRNA-mRNA) regulatory pairs in CHD.

Main Methods:

  • Bioinformatic analysis of gene expression datasets (GSE20681, GSE12288, GSE49823, GSE105449) to identify differentially expressed mRNAs and miRNAs.
  • Selection and validation of core miRNA-mRNA regulatory pairs using dual luciferase assays, Western blotting, and quantitative PCR (qPCR).
  • Functional analysis of selected pair (miR-338-3p/RPS23) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to assess effects on proliferation and migration.

Main Results:

  • Identification of 94 differentially expressed mRNAs and 70 differentially expressed miRNAs, leading to 5 core miRNA-mRNA regulatory pairs.
  • miR-338-3p directly targets RPS23, with a negative correlation in their expression.
  • miR-338-3p demonstrated diagnostic potential (AUC=0.847) and significantly regulated HUVEC proliferation and migration; RPS23 modulated these effects.

Conclusions:

  • The miR-338-3p/RPS23 axis is implicated in the progression of coronary heart disease.
  • miR-338-3p emerges as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CHD.