Altered Expression of Transfer-RNA-Derived Small RNAs in Human With Rheumatic Heart Disease

Zhao-Yu Yang; Peng-Fei Li; Zhi-Qing Li; Tao Tang; Wei Liu; Yang Wang

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2021.716716

Altered Expression of Transfer-RNA-Derived Small RNAs in Human With Rheumatic Heart Disease

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2021 Dec 1:8:716716. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.716716. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zhao-Yu Yang^{1

2}, Peng-Fei Li³, Zhi-Qing Li⁴, Tao Tang^{1

2}, Wei Liu^{2

5}, Yang Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Institute of Integrative Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
⁴ Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.
⁵ Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a severe public health problem in developing countries. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a medical complication of RHD. Although the understanding of disease pathogenesis has advanced in recent years, the key questions need to be addressed. Transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are a novel type of short non-coding RNAs with potential regulatory functions in various physiological and pathological processes. The present study used tsRNAs sequencing to investigate the relationship between RHD and atrial fibrillation (AF). Three paired cardiac papillary muscles were taken from six rheumatic RHD patients with AF (3 cases) or without AF (3 cases) from January 2016 to January 2017 in Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. A total of 219 precisely matched tsRNAs were identified, and 77 tsRNAs (fold change > 2.0 and P < 0.05) were differently changed. Three tsRNAs (AS-tDR-001269, AS-tDR-001363, AS-tDR-006049) were randomly selected and confirmed by qRT-PCR. The results of qRT-PCR were consistent with tsRNAs sequencing, suggesting the tsRNAs sequencing was reliable. Subsequently, we predicted the target mRNAs of the three tsRNAs. Moreover, we verified the functions of tsRNAs targeting mRNAs in vitro. Finally, bioinformatics analysis indicated that the target genes were abundant in regulation of transcription, DNA binding, intracellular. Most of the genes were predicted to interplay with cytokine-cytokine receptor by KEGG analysis. Our findings uncover the pathological process of AF in RHD through tsRNAs sequencing. This research provides a new perspective for future research on elucidating the mechanism of AF in RHD and offers potential new candidates for the treatment and diagnosis.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; biomarker; rheumatic heart disease; transcriptomics; transfer RNA derived small RNAs.