Mechanical forces associated with blood flow play an important role in regulating vascular signaling and gene expression in endothelial cells (ECs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs that posttranscriptionally regulate the expression of genes involved in diverse cell functions, including differentiation, growth, proliferation, and apoptosis. miRNAs are known to have an important role in modulating EC biology, but their expression and functions in cells subjected to shear stress conditions are unknown. We sought to determine the miRNA expression profile in human ECs subjected to unidirectional shear stress and define the role of miR-21 in shear stress-induced changes in EC function. TLDA array and qRT-PCR analysis performed on HUVECs exposed to prolonged unidirectional shear stress (USS, 24 hrs, 15 dynes/cm2) identified 13 miRNAs whose expression was significantly upregulated (p < 0.05). The miRNA with the greatest change was miR-21; it was increased 5.2-fold (p = 0.002) in USStreated versus control cells. Western analysis demonstrated that PTEN, a known target of miR-21, was downregulated in HUVECs exposed to USS or transfected with pre-miR-21. Importantly, HUVECs overexpressing miR-21 had decreased apoptosis and increased eNOS phosphorylation and nitric oxide (NO) production. These data demonstrate that shear stress forces regulate the expression of miRNAs in ECs, and that miR-21 influences endothelial biology by decreasing apoptosis and activating the NO pathway. These studies advance our understanding of the mechanisms by which shear stress forces modulate vascular homeostasis.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the largest killer of males and females in the United States. There is a need to develop innovative diagnostic markers for this disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs that posttranscriptionally regulate the expression of genes involved in important cellular processes, and we hypothesized that the miRNA expression profile would be altered in whole blood samples of patients with CAD. We performed a microarray analysis on RNA from the blood of 5 male subjects with CAD and 5 healthy subjects (mean age 53 years). Subsequently, we performed qRT-PCR analysis of miRNA expression in whole blood of another 10 patients with CAD and 15 healthy subjects. We identified 11 miRNAs that were significantly downregulated in CAD subjects (P < .05). Furthermore, we found an association between ACEI/ARB use and downregulation of several miRNAs that was independent of the presence of significant CAD. In conclusion, we have identified a distinct miRNA signature in whole blood that discriminates CAD patients from healthy subjects. Importantly, medication use may significantly alter miRNA expression. These findings may have significant implications for identifying and managing individuals that either have CAD or are at risk of developing the disease.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of non-coding RNAs, have become a major focus of molecular biology research because of their diverse genomic origin and ability to regulate an array of cellular processes. Although the biological functions of miRNA are yet to be fully understood, tissue levels of specific miRNAs have been shown to correlate with pathological development of disease. Here, we demonstrate that molecular beacons can readily distinguish mature- and pre-miRNAs, and reliably quantify miRNA expression. We found that molecular beacons with DNA, RNA and combined locked nucleic acid (LNA)–DNA backbones can all detect miRNAs of low (<1 nM) concentrations in vitro, with RNA beacons having the highest detection sensitivity. Furthermore, we found that molecular beacons have the potential to distinguish miRNAs that have slight variations in their nucleotide sequence. These results suggest that the molecular beacon-based approach to assess miRNA expression and distinguish mature and precursor miRNA species is quite robust, and has the promise for assessing miRNA levels in biological samples.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression and are recognized for their roles both as modulators of disease progression and as biomarkers of disease activity, including neurological diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Commonly, miRNA abundance is assessed using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), however, qRT-PCR for miRNA can be labor intensive, time consuming, and may lack specificity for detection of mature versus precursor forms of miRNA. Here, we describe a novel double molecular beacon approach to miRNA assessment that can distinguish and quantify mature versus precursor forms of miRNA in a single assay, an essential feature for use of miRNAs as biomarkers for disease. Using this approach, we found that molecular beacons with DNA or combined locked nucleic acid (LNA)-DNA backbones can detect mature and precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs) of low (< 1 nM) abundance in vitro. The double molecular beacon assay was accurate in assessing miRNA abundance in a sample containing a mixed population of mature and precursor miRNAs. In contrast, qRT-PCR and the single molecular beacon assay overestimated miRNA abundance. Additionally, the double molecular beacon assay was less labor intensive than traditional qRT-PCR and had 10-25% increased specificity. Our data suggest that the double molecular beacon-based approach is more precise and specific than previous methods, and has the promise of being the standard for assessing miRNA levels in biological samples.