Abstract
Homocysteine (Hcy) is an independent risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, etc. There is a close relationship between the vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and these diseases. Recent studies have shown homocysteine can induce apoptosis in endothelial cells, which may be an important mechanism for the development of theses cardiovascular diseases. Although there are several reports about how the Hcy induces apoptosis in endothelial cells, the exact mechanism is not fully understood. MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNA. Previous studies have shown that there is a close relationship between several microRNAs and cell apoptosis. However, there are no studies about the role of microRNAs in Hcy-induced apoptosis in endothelial cells so far. In this study, we constructed the model of homocysteine-induced apoptosis in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) and found miR-30b was significantly down-regulated by 1 mmol/L Hcy. In addition, overexpression of miR-30b can improve the Hcy-induced apoptosis in HCAECs by downregulating caspase-3 expression. Therefore, miR-30b may play an important role in Hcy-induced apoptosis in endothelial cells.
Highlights
IntroductionHomocysteine (Hcy) is an intermediate metabolite in the metabolic pathway of cysteine and methionine
Homocysteine (Hcy) is an intermediate metabolite in the metabolic pathway of cysteine and methionine.Previous studies have revealed that high levels of serum Hcy are independent risk factors of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke [1,2,3,4]
To observe the influence of Hcy on the human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs), the expression of caspase-3 mRNA was detected by real-time qPCR (Figure 1A), the expression of caspase-3 protein was detected by Western
Summary
Homocysteine (Hcy) is an intermediate metabolite in the metabolic pathway of cysteine and methionine. Hcy can induce apoptosis in endothelial cells [6,7,8], and the apoptosis induced by Hcy in endothelial cells is regarded as the one of the mechanisms leading to these cardiovascular diseases. Dicer is a key enzyme involved in the maturation of microRNAs. Previous study has found that overexpression of Dicer in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) markedly decreases apoptosis upon serum withdrawal [10]. There are no studies about the role of microRNAs in Hcy-induced apoptosis in endothelial cells so far. Hcy-induced apoptosis in HCAECs, providing new drug targets and therapeutic orientation of intervention Hcy-induced endothelial dysfunction, the present study determined the role of miR-30b in.
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