Endothelial derived miRNA-9 mediated cardiac fibrosis in diabetes and its regulation by ZFAS1

PLoS One. 2022 Oct 14;17(10):e0276076. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276076. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia induces increased expression/deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins including fibronectin (FN) and collagen (Col) and plays an important role in fibrosis in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). The roles of RNAs including microRNA (miRNA) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) have begun to be understood in many conditions. In this study, we investigated the role of a specific miRNA, miR-9, and its interactions with lncRNA ZFAS1 in mediating fibrosis in DCM. Treatment with 25 mM glucose (HG) decreased miR-9 expression and increased expressions of ZFAS1, ECM proteins and inflammatory markers, compared to 5 mM glucose (NG) in the HCMECs by using qRT-PCR. Glucose-induced upregulation of ECM proteins can be prevented by ZFAS1 siRNA or miR-9 mimic transfection. Luciferase assay was confirmed miR-9 binding to FN 3'-UTR. miR-9 expression can be regulated by ZFAS1 through polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) components using RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. In the in vivo experiment, hyperglycemia-induced the ECM production can be prevented by the miR-9 overexpression in the fibrosis in DCM. These studies showed a novel glucose-induced molecular mechanism in which ZFAS1 participates in the transcriptional regulation of ECM protein production in diabetes through miR-9.

MeSH terms

  • Diabetes Mellitus*
  • Diabetic Cardiomyopathies* / genetics
  • Extracellular Matrix Proteins / metabolism
  • Fibronectins / genetics
  • Fibrosis
  • Glucose
  • Humans
  • Hyperglycemia* / complications
  • Hyperglycemia* / genetics
  • MicroRNAs* / genetics
  • MicroRNAs* / metabolism
  • Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
  • RNA, Long Noncoding* / genetics
  • RNA, Long Noncoding* / metabolism
  • RNA, Small Interfering

Substances

  • Extracellular Matrix Proteins
  • Fibronectins
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • ZFAS1 long non-coding RNA, human
  • Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
  • Glucose

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