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Niu K, Zhang C, Yang M, Maguire EM, Shi Z, Sun S, Wu J, Liu C, An W, Wang X, Gao S, Ge S, Xiao Q. SNHG18 controls vascular smooth muscle cell contractile phenotype and neointimal hyperplasia. Cardiovasc Res 2024:cvae055. [PMID: 38498586 DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvae055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
AIMS Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 (SNHG18) has been widely implicated in cancers. However, little is known about its functional involvement in vascular diseases. Herein, we attempted to explore a role for SNHG18 in modulating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractile phenotype and injury-induced neointima formation. METHODS AND RESULTS Analysis of single cell RNA sequencing and transcriptomic datasets showed decreased levels of SNHG18 in injured and atherosclerotic murine and human arteries, which is positively associated with VSMC contractile genes. SNHG18 was upregulated in VSMCs by TGFβ1 through transcription factors Sp1 and SMAD3. SNHG18 gene gain/loss-of-function studies revealed that VSMC contractile phenotype was positively regulated by SNHG18. Mechanistic studies showed that SNHG18 promotes a contractile VSMC phenotype by up-regulating miR-22-3p. SNHG18 up-regulates miR-22 biogenesis and miR-22-3p production by competitive binding with the A-to-I RNA editing enzyme, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA-2 (ADAR2). Surprisingly, we observed that ADAR2 inhibited miR-22 biogenesis not through increasing A-to-I editing within primary miR-22, but by interfering the binding of microprocessor complex subunit DGCR8 to primary miR-22. Importantly, perivascular SNHG18 overexpression in the injured vessels dramatically up-regulated the expression levels of miR-22-3p and VSMC contractile genes, and prevented injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia. Such modulatory effects were reverted by miR-22-3p inhibition in the injured arteries. Finally, we observed a similar regulator role for SNHG18 in human VSMCs, and a decreased expression level of both SNHG18 and miR-22-3p in diseased human arteries; and we found that the expression level of SNHG18 was positively associated with that of miR-22-3p in both healthy and diseased human arteries. CONCLUSION We demonstrate that SNHG18 is a novel regulator in governing VSMC contractile phenotype and preventing injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia. Our findings have important implications for therapeutic targeting snhg18/miR-22-3p signalling in vascular diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiyuan Niu
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Chengxin Zhang
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, P.R. China
| | - Mei Yang
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
- Department of Cardiology, Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Cardiovascular Medicine, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China
| | - Eithne Margaret Maguire
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Zhenning Shi
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Shasha Sun
- Department of Cardiology, Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Cardiovascular Medicine, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China
| | - Jianping Wu
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Chenxin Liu
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Weiwei An
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
| | - Xinxin Wang
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, P.R. China
| | - Shan Gao
- Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, P.R. China
| | - Shenglin Ge
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, P.R. China
| | - Qingzhong Xiao
- William Harvey Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1 M 6BQ, UK
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218, Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, P.R. China
- Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, P.R. China
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Zhou X, Ye Q, Zheng J, Kuang L, Zhu J, Yan H. IMP3 promotes re-endothelialization after arterial injury via increasing stability of VEGF mRNAhv. J Cell Mol Med 2022; 26:2023-2037. [PMID: 35315195 PMCID: PMC8980943 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.17225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Revised: 01/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
IMP3, an RNA‐binding protein (RBP) that participates in the process of post‐transcriptional modifications of mRNA transcripts, is capable of altering cellular functions, and in some cases, be involved in specific disease progression. We aimed to investigate whether IMP3 has the ability to regulate the functional properties of endothelial cells and re‐endothelialization in response to arterial injury. Wire injury was introduced to the right carotid arteries of wildtype C57/BL6 mice. As a result, IMPs’ expressions were up‐regulated in the induced arterial lesions, and IMP3 was the most up‐regulated RNA among other IMPs. We overexpressed IMP3 before the wire‐injured surgery using adeno‐associated virus AAV2‐IMP3. In vivo studies confirmed that IMP3 overexpression accelerated the progress of re‐endothelialization after arterial injury. In vitro, endothelial cells were transfected with either ad‐IMP3 or Si‐IMP3, cell functional studies showed that IMP3 could promote endothelial cell proliferation and migration, while reducing apoptosis. Mechanistic studies also revealed that IMP3 could enhance VEGF mRNA stability and therefore up‐regulate activities of VEGF/PI3K/Akt signalling pathway. Our data indicated that IMP3 promotes re‐endothelialization after arterial injury and regulates endothelial cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis via increasing stability of VEGF mRNA and activation of VEGF/PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinmiao Zhou
- Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qingqing Ye
- Department of Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jinlei Zheng
- Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Lin Kuang
- Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jianhua Zhu
- Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hui Yan
- Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Chen D, Zhang C, Chen J, Yang M, Afzal TA, An W, Maguire EM, He S, Luo J, Wang X, Zhao Y, Wu Q, Xiao Q. miRNA-200c-3p promotes endothelial to mesenchymal transition and neointimal hyperplasia in artery bypass grafts. J Pathol 2020; 253:209-224. [PMID: 33125708 PMCID: PMC7839516 DOI: 10.1002/path.5574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Increasing evidence has suggested a critical role for endothelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) in a variety of pathological conditions. MicroRNA‐200c‐3p (miR‐200c‐3p) has been implicated in epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition. However, the functional role of miR‐200c‐3p in EndoMT and neointimal hyperplasia in artery bypass grafts remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrated a critical role for miR‐200c‐3p in EndoMT. Proteomics and luciferase activity assays revealed that fermitin family member 2 (FERM2) is the functional target of miR‐200c‐3p during EndoMT. FERMT2 gene inactivation recapitulates the effect of miR‐200c‐3p overexpression on EndoMT, and the inhibitory effect of miR‐200c‐3p inhibition on EndoMT was reversed by FERMT2 knockdown. Further mechanistic studies revealed that FERM2 suppresses smooth muscle gene expression by preventing serum response factor nuclear translocation and preventing endothelial mRNA decay by interacting with Y‐box binding protein 1. In a model of aortic grafting using endothelial lineage tracing, we observed that miR‐200c‐3p expression was dramatically up‐regulated, and that EndoMT contributed to neointimal hyperplasia in grafted arteries. MiR‐200c‐3p inhibition in grafted arteries significantly up‐regulated FERM2 gene expression, thereby preventing EndoMT and reducing neointimal formation. Importantly, we found a high level of EndoMT in human femoral arteries with atherosclerotic lesions, and that miR‐200c‐3p expression was significantly increased, while FERMT2 expression levels were dramatically decreased in diseased human arteries. Collectively, we have documented an unexpected role for miR‐200c‐3p in EndoMT and neointimal hyperplasia in grafted arteries. Our findings offer a novel therapeutic opportunity for treating vascular diseases by specifically targeting the miR‐200c‐3p/FERM2 regulatory axis. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Chen
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Cheng Zhang
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Jiangyong Chen
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.,Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Mei Yang
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Tayyab A Afzal
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Weiwei An
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Eithne M Maguire
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Shiping He
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Jun Luo
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China.,Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Xiaowen Wang
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Yu Zhao
- Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Qingchen Wu
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
| | - Qingzhong Xiao
- Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.,Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases at The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.,Guangzhou Municipal and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Modification and Degradation, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China
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