Dysregulated Expression Profiles of MicroRNAs of Experimentally Induced Cerebral Aneurysms in Rats

Abstract

ObjectiveCerebral aneurysm (CA) is an important acquired cerebrovascular disease that can cause catastrophic results. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, playing essential roles in modulating basic physiologic and pathological processes. Currently, evidences have been established about biologic relationship between miRNAs and abdominal aortic aneurysms. However, biologic roles of miRNAs in CA formation have not been explained yet. We employed microarray analysis to detect and compare miRNA expression profiles in late stage of CA in rat model.MethodsTwenty-six, 7-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a CA induction procedure. The control animals (n=11) were fed a normal diet, and the experimental animals (n=26) were fed a normal diet with 1% normal saline for 3 months. Then, the rats were sacrificed, their cerebral arteries were dissected, and the five regions of aneurysmal dilation on the left posterior communicating artery were cut for miRNA microarrays analysis. Six miRNAs (miRNA-1, miRNA-223, miRNA-24-1-5p, miRNA-551b, miRNA-433, and miRNA-489) were randomly chosen for validation using real-time quantitative PCR.ResultsAmong a set of differentially expressed miRNAs, 14 miRNAs were over-expressed more than 200% and 6 miRNAs were down-expressed lower than 50% in the CA tissues.ConclusionThe results show that miRNAs might take part in CA formation probably by affecting multiple target genes and signaling pathways. Further investigations to identify the exact roles of these miRNAs in CA formation are required.

RNA-Sequencing Analysis of Messenger RNA/MicroRNA in a Rabbit Aneurysm Model Identifies Pathways and Genes of Interest

“…14 This is in contrast to experimentally induced rat cerebral aneurysm models, which have shown increased levels of miR-1. 15 …”

“…This makes miRNA an important regulatory molecule, and it is known to play a role a variety of pathologies. 6–12 There are only a handful of prior studies that have profiled miRNA expression in either human intracranial aneurysms or relevant animal models, 13–15 alongside a small number of studies which focus on the roles of particular miRNA. 16, 17 Already these studies are revealing potential biomarkers 13 and the importance of these regulatory molecules.…”

A Potential Polymorphism in the Promoter of Let-7 is Associated With an Increased Risk of Intracranial Aneurysm

“…miRNAs are noncoding molecules with a length of ∼22 nucleotides, which function as pre- and post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. 16 , 17 In both human and animal models of IA, miRNAs are differentially expression, including let-7, 18 – 21 indicating that let-7 may play an important role in the progression of IA. Let-7 family has several members, including let-7a-1, let-7d, let-7f-1, let-7i, and others.…”

MicroRNAs: Novel Players in Aortic Aneurysm

“…miR-223 is a hematopoietic specific microRNA with crucial functions in myeloid lineage development. It has also been reported to be a novel regulator of inflammation [ 27 – 29 ], which suppresses proinflammatory pathways and enhances the anti-inflammatory response. Overexpression of miR-223 shows a protective role for vascular homeostasis and inflammation [ 30 ].…”