Carvedilol protects the infarcted heart by upregulating miR-133: first evidence that disease state affects β-adrenergic arrestin-biased signaling?

Long non-coding RNAs in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure: functions, mechanisms and clinical prospects

The surge in reports describing non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has focused attention on their possible biological roles and effects on development and disease. ncRNAs have been touted as previously uncharacterized regulators of gene expression and cellular processes, possibly working to fine-tune these functions. The sheer number of ncRNAs identified has outpaced the capacity to characterize each molecule thoroughly and to reliably establish its clinical relevance; it has, nonetheless, created excitement about their potential as molecular targets for novel therapeutic approaches to treat human disease. In this Review, we focus on one category of ncRNAs - long non-coding RNAs - and their expression, functions and molecular mechanisms in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. We further discuss the prospects for this specific class of ncRNAs as novel targets for the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.

MicroRNA‑1 downregulation induced by carvedilol protects cardiomyocytes against apoptosis by targeting heat shock protein 60

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the most common event in cardiovascular disease. Carvedilol, a β‑blocker with multiple pleiotropic actions, is widely used for the treatment cardiovascular diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms of carvedilol on alleviating MI are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the beneficial effects of carvedilol were associated with regulation of microRNA‑1 (miR‑1). It was demonstrated that carvedilol ameliorated impaired cardiac function and decreased infarct size in a rat model of MI induced by coronary artery occlusion. Similarly, carvedilol reversed the H2O2‑induced decrease in cardiomyocyte viability in a dose‑dependent manner. The in vivo and in vitro models demonstrated the downregulation of miR‑1 following treatment with carvedilol. Overexpression of miR‑1, a known pro‑apoptotic miRNA, decreased cell viability and induced cell apoptosis. Transfection of miR‑1 abolished the beneficial effects of carvedilol. The expression of heat shock protein 60 (HSP60), a direct target of miR‑1, was identified to be decreased in MI and H2O2‑induced apoptosis, which was associated with a decrease in Bcl‑2 and an increase in Bax; expression was restored following treatment with carvedilol. It was concluded that carvedilol partially exhibited its beneficial effects by downregulating miR‑1 and increasing HSP60 expression. miR‑1 has become a member of the group of carvedilol‑responsive miRNAs. Future studies are required to fully elucidate the potential overlapping or compensatory effects of known carvedilol‑responsive miRNAs and their underlying mechanisms of action in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases.