Yei-Tsung Chen

MicroRNA and Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) imposes significant economic and public health burdens upon modern society. It is known that disturbances in neurohormonal status play an important role in the pathogenesis of HF. Therapeutics that antagonize selected neurohormonal pathways, specifically the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems, have significantly improved patient outcomes in HF. Nevertheless, mortality remains high with about 50% of HF patients dying within five years of diagnosis thus mandating ongoing efforts to improve HF management. The discovery of short noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) and our increasing understanding of their functions, has presented potential therapeutic applications in complex diseases, including HF. Results from several genome-wide miRNA studies have identified miRNAs differentially expressed in HF cohorts suggesting their possible involvement in the pathogenesis of HF and their potential as both biomarkers and as therapeutic targets. Unravelling the functional relevance of miRNAs within pathogenic pathways is a major challenge in cardiovascular research. In this article, we provide an overview of the role of miRNAs in the cardiovascular system. We highlight several HF-related miRNAs reported from selected cohorts and review their putative roles in neurohormonal signaling.

Intracellular Adenosine Triphosphate Deprivation through Lanthanide-Doped Nanoparticles

Growing interest in lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for biological and medical uses has brought particular attention to their safety concerns. However, the intrinsic toxicity of this new class of optical nanomaterials in biological systems has not been fully evaluated. In this work, we systematically evaluate the long-term cytotoxicity of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles (NaGdF4 and NaYF4) to HeLa cells by monitoring cell viability (mitochondrial activity), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level, and cell membrane integrity (lactate dehydrogenase release), respectively. Importantly, we find that ligand-free lanthanide-doped nanoparticles induce intracellular ATP deprivation of HeLa cells, resulting in a significant decrease in cell viability after exposure for 7 days. We attribute the particle-induced cell death to two distinct cell death pathways, autophagy and apoptosis, which are primarily mediated via the interaction between the nanoparticle and the phosphate group of cellular ATP. The understanding gained from the investigation of cytotoxicity associated with lanthanide-doped nanoparticles provides keen insights into the safe use of these nanoparticles in biological systems.

Overview of MicroRNAs in Cardiac Hypertrophy, Fibrosis, and Apoptosis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that play essential roles in modulating the gene expression in almost all biological events. In the past decade, the involvement of miRNAs in various cardiovascular disorders has been explored in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies. In this paper, studies focused upon the discovery of miRNAs, their target genes, and functionality are reviewed. The selected miRNAs discussed herein have regulatory effects on target gene expression as demonstrated by miRNA/3′ end untranslated region (3′UTR) interaction assay and/or gain/loss-of-function approaches. The listed miRNA entities are categorized according to the biological relevance of their target genes in relation to three cardiovascular pathologies, namely cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and apoptosis. Furthermore, comparison across 86 studies identified several candidate miRNAs that might be of particular importance in the ontogenesis of cardiovascular diseases as they modulate the expression of clusters of target genes involved in the progression of multiple adverse cardiovascular events. This review illustrates the involvement of miRNAs in diverse biological signaling pathways and provides an overview of current understanding of, and progress of research into, of the roles of miRNAs in cardiovascular health and disease.

Natriuretic peptide receptor 3 (NPR3) is regulated by microRNA-100

Natriuretic peptide receptor 3 (NPR3) is the clearance receptor for the cardiac natriuretic peptides (NPs). By modulating the level of NPs, NPR3 plays an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis. Although the physiological functions of NPR3 have been explored, little is known about its regulation in health or disease. MicroRNAs play an essential role in the post-transcriptional expression of many genes. Our aim was to investigate potential microRNA-based regulation of NPR3 in multiple models. Hypoxic challenge elevated levels of NPPB and ADM mRNA, as well as NT-proBNP and MR-proADM in human left ventricle derived cardiac cells (HCMa), and in the corresponding conditioned medium, as revealed by qRT-PCR and ELISA. NPR3 was decreased while NPR1 was increased by hypoxia at mRNA and protein levels in HCMa. Down-regulation of NPR3 mRNA was also observed in infarct and peri-infarct cardiac tissue from rats undergoing myocardial infarction. From microRNA microarray analyses and microRNA target predictive databases, miR-100 was selected as a candidate regulator of NPR3 expression. Further analyses confirmed up-regulation of miR-100 in hypoxic cells and associated conditioned media. Antagomir-based silencing of miR-100 enhanced NPR3 expression in HCMa. Furthermore, miR-100 levels were markedly up-regulated in rat hearts and in peripheral blood after myocardial infarction and in the blood from heart failure patients. Results from this study point to a role for miR-100 in the regulation of NPR3 expression, and suggest a possible therapeutic target for modulation of NP bioactivity in heart disease.

Differential MicroRNA Expression Profile in Myxomatous Mitral Valve Prolapse and Fibroelastic Deficiency Valves

Myxomatous mitral valve prolapse (MMVP) and fibroelastic deficiency (FED) are two common variants of degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD), which is a leading cause of mitral regurgitation worldwide. While pathohistological studies have revealed differences in extracellular matrix content in MMVP and FED, the molecular mechanisms underlying these two disease entities remain to be elucidated. By using surgically removed valvular specimens from MMVP and FED patients that were categorized on the basis of echocardiographic, clinical and operative findings, a cluster of microRNAs that expressed differentially were identified. The expressions of has-miR-500, -3174, -17, -1193, -646, -1273e, -4298, -203, -505, and -939 showed significant differences between MMVP and FED after applying Bonferroni correction (p < 0.002174). The possible involvement of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of DMVD were further suggested by the presences of in silico predicted target sites on a number of genes reported to be involved in extracellular matrix homeostasis and marker genes for cellular composition of mitral valves, including decorin (DCN), aggrecan (ACAN), fibromodulin (FMOD), α actin 2 (ACTA2), extracellular matrix protein 2 (ECM2), desmin (DES), endothelial cell specific molecule 1 (ESM1), and platelet/ endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM1), as well as inverse correlations of selected microRNA and mRNA expression in MMVP and FED groups. Our results provide evidence that distinct molecular mechanisms underlie MMVP and FED. Moreover, the microRNAs identified may be targets for the future development of diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutics.

Ankyrin Repeat Domain 1 Protein: A Functionally Pleiotropic Protein with Cardiac Biomarker Potential

The ankyrin repeat domain 1 (ANKRD1) protein is a cardiac-specific stress-response protein that is part of the muscle ankyrin repeat protein family. ANKRD1 is functionally pleiotropic, playing pivotal roles in transcriptional regulation, sarcomere assembly and mechano-sensing in the heart. Importantly, cardiac ANKRD1 has been shown to be highly induced in various cardiomyopathies and in heart failure, although it is still unclear what impact this may have on the pathophysiology of heart failure. This review aims at highlighting the known properties, functions and regulation of ANKRD1, with focus on the underlying mechanisms that may be involved. The current views on the actions of ANKRD1 in cardiovascular disease and its utility as a candidate cardiac biomarker with diagnostic and/or prognostic potential are also discussed. More studies of ANKRD1 are warranted to obtain deeper functional insights into this molecule to allow assessment of its potential clinical applications as a diagnostic or prognostic marker and/or as a possible therapeutic target.

MicroRNA-143 modulates the expression of Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 3 in cardiac cells

Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 3 (NPR3), the clearance receptor for extracellular bio-active natriuretic peptides (NPs), plays important roles in the homeostasis of body fluid volume and vascular tone. Using luciferase reporter and antagomir-based silencing assays, we demonstrated that the expression of NPR3 could be modulated by microRNA-143 (miR-143-3p), a microRNA species with up-regulated circulating concentrations in clinical heart failure. The regulatory effect of miR-143 on NPR3 expression was further evidenced by the reciprocal relationship between miR-143 and NPR3 levels observed in hypoxia-treated human cardiac cells and in left ventricular tissue from rats undergoing experimental myocardial infarction. Further analysis indicated elevation of miR-143 in response to hypoxic challenge reflects transcriptional activation of the miR-143 host gene (MIR143HG). This was corroborated by demonstration of the induction of host gene promoter activity upon hypoxic challenge. Moreover, miR-143 was shown to enhance its own expression by increasing MIR143HG promoter activity, as well as targeting the expressions of NPPA, NPPC, NR3C2, and CRHR2 in cardiac cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that the elevation of miR-143 upon hypoxic insult may be part of a microRNA-based feed forward loop that results in fine tuning the levels of NPs and neurohormonal receptors in cardiac cell lineages.

MicroRNA expression profiles of human left ventricle derived cardiac cells in normoxic and hypoxic conditions

Studies in the cardiovascular research field have demonstrated the vital roles of microRNAs for proper cardiovascular development and functional maintenance. The involvement of aberrant microRNA expression leading to ontogenesis of cardiovascular diseases lends further support of the regulatory role of microRNAs in heart function. Hypoxic insult is one of the major factors that trigger downstream signal cascades which contribute to the pathogenesis of hypoxic/ischemic-related heart diseases. Here, we report the microRNA expression profile in human cardiac-derived cells subjected to 120-h hypoxic treatment. By comparing with the normoxic control state, we identified microRNAs differentially expressed in cardiac cells subjected to hypoxic challenge. MicroRNA microarray data are available at NCBI under the GEO accession number, GSE55387.