MicroRNAs may contribute to atherogenesis in a cell-type-dependent manner
2021-06-02
(Press-News.org) Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have uncovered potential mechanisms by which microRNAs (miRNA) drive atherogenesis in a cell-type-specific manner. Published in the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology journal, the study provides novel insight into the miRNA profiles of the main cell types involved in atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of most cardiovascular diseases and one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. During atherosclerosis, arteries become progressively narrow and thick due to the formation of plaques containing cholesterol deposits, calcium and cells, among other components. Although the role and contribution to atherosclerosis of endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and macrophages - the main cell types associated with disease progression in the vascular wall - has been previously described, the molecular mechanisms leading to gene expression changes during atherosclerosis in these cell types remain unknown. In particular, the cell-type specific expression and regulation of miRNAs in the disease context has remained unexplored. MiRNAs represent one class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate the protein production by binding to messenger RNAs of protein encoding genes and this way affect cell function and disease progression.
In this study, by integrating different next generation sequencing techniques, the researchers have provided a deeper understanding of the miRNA changes in primary human endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and macrophages under various pro-atherogenic stimuli, and discovered that the precursor forms of the miRNA (primary miRNAs) were highly expressed in a cell-type specific manner, suggesting distinct regulatory mechanisms on transcriptional level. In contrast, the large majority of mature miRNAs were common to all cell types and dominated by 2-5 abundant miRNA species. Moreover, the researchers uncovered microRNA-messenger RNA networks through which miRNAs could drive cell-type-specific responses. Given that miRNAs play an essential role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and can be dysregulated in pathological states, miRNA therapeutics that manipulate cellular miRNA levels are essential and have already entered clinical trials. Thus, these results are fundamental for the atherosclerosis research community and could serve as the basis for future development of cell-targeted therapeutics.
INFORMATION:
This study was performed in Associate Professor Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä's research group, and it was funded by the Academy of Finland, Emil Aaltonen Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Maud Kuistila Memorial Foundation, Orion Research Foundation, Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation and the European Research Council (ERC).
For further information, please contact:
Academy Research Fellow, Associate Professor Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä, University of Eastern Finland, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, minna.kaikkonen (at) uef.fi, tel. +35840 355 2413, https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/minna.kaikkonen-maatta/
Postdoctoral Researcher Suvi Linna-Kuosmanen, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, suvil (at) mit.edu
https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/cardiovascular-genomics-kaikkonen-lab/
Research article:
Pierre R. Moreau, Vanesa Tomas Bosch, Maria Bouvy-Liivrand, Kadri Õunap, Tiit Örd, Heidi H. Pulkkinen, Petri Pölönen, Merja Heinäniemi, Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, Johanna P. Laakkonen, Suvi Linna-Kuosmanen*, Minna U. Kaikkonen*. Profiling of Primary and Mature miRNA Expression in Atherosclerosis Associated Cell Types. Atherosclerosis, thrombosis and Vasuclar biology. 2021. DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.121.315579
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-06-02
Every tumour is different, every patient is different. So how do we know which treatment will work best for the patient and eradicate the cancer? In order to offer a personalised treatment that best suits the case being treated, a team of scientists led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, had already developed a spheroidal reproduction of tumours that integrates the tumour cells, but also their microenvironment. However, the immune system had not yet been taken into account, even though it can either be strengthened or destroyed by the treatment given to the patient. Today, the Geneva team has succeeded in integrating two types of immune cells that come directly from the patient into the spheroidal structure, ...
2021-06-02
The Permian Basin, located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, is the largest oil- and gas-producing region in the U.S. The oilfield operations emit methane, but quantifying the greenhouse gas is difficult because of the large area and the fact that many sources are intermittent emitters. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters have conducted an extensive airborne campaign with imaging spectrometers and identified large methane sources across this area.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 38% of the nation's total oil and 17% of natural gas production took place in the Permian Basin in 2020. Therefore, quantifying emissions from these operations, which continue to expand rapidly, is ...
2021-06-02
A healthy diet around the time of conception through the second trimester may reduce the risk of several common pregnancy complications, suggests a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Expectant women in the study who scored high on any of three measures of healthy eating had lower risks for gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related blood pressure disorders and preterm birth. The study was conducted by Cuilin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). It appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. ...
2021-06-02
A team of students working with Jonathan Boreyko, associate professor in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, has discovered the method ducks use to suspend water in their feathers while diving, allowing them to shake it out when surfacing. The discovery opens the door for applications in marine technology. Findings were published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Boreyko has a well-established body of work in the area of fluid mechanics, including the invention of a fog harp and the use of contained, recirculated steam as a cooling device. As his research has progressed throughout the past decade, the mechanics of duck de-wetting has been one of his longest-running projects.
"I got this idea when I was at Duke University," ...
2021-06-02
Jack Tseng loves bone-crunching animals -- hyenas are his favorite -- so when paleontologist Joseph Peterson discovered fossilized dinosaur bones that had teeth marks from a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, Tseng decided to try to replicate the bite marks and measure how hard those kids could actually chomp down.
Last year, he and Peterson made a metal replica of a scimitar-shaped tooth of a 13-year-old juvie T. rex, mounted it on a mechanical testing frame commonly used in engineering and materials science, and tried to crack a cow legbone with it.
Based on 17 successful attempts to match the depth and shape of the bite marks on the fossils -- he had to toss out some trials because the fresh bone slid around too much -- he determined that a juvenile could have exerted ...
2021-06-02
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have built the world's smallest and best acoustic amplifier. And they did it using a concept that was all but abandoned for almost 50 years.
According to a paper published May 13 in Nature Communications, the device is more than 10 times more effective than the earlier versions. The design and future research directions hold promise for smaller wireless technology.
Modern cell phones are packed with radios to send and receive phone calls, text messages and high-speed data. The more radios in a device, the more it can do. While most radio components, including amplifiers, are electronic, they can potentially ...
2021-06-02
Twice a day, at dusk and just before dawn, a faint layer of sodium and other metals begins sinking down through the atmosphere, about 90 miles high above the city of Boulder, Colorado. The movement was captured by one of the world's most sensitive "lidar" instruments and reported today in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The metals in those layers come originally from rocky material blasting into Earth's atmosphere from space, and the regularly appearing layers promise to help researchers understand better how earth's atmosphere interacts with space, even potentially how those interactions help support life.
"This is an important discovery because we have never seen these dusk/dawn features before, and because these metal layers affect many things. The ...
2021-06-02
DALLAS, June 2, 2021 -- A "prescription" to sit less and move more is the optimal first treatment choice for reducing mild to moderately elevated blood pressure and blood cholesterol in otherwise healthy adults, according to the new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.
"The current American Heart Association guidelines for diagnosing high blood pressure and cholesterol recognize that otherwise healthy individuals with mildly or moderately elevated levels of these ...
2021-06-02
A large group of iconic fossils widely believed to shed light on the origins of many of Earth's animals and the communities they lived in may be hiding a secret.
Scientists, led by two from the University of Portsmouth, UK, are the first to model how exceptionally well preserved fossils that record the largest and most intense burst of evolution ever seen could have been moved by mudflows.
The finding, published in Communications Earth & Environment, offers a cautionary note on how palaeontologists build a picture from the remains of the creatures they study.
Until now, it has been widely accepted the fossils buried in mudflows in the Burgess Shale in Canada that show the result of the Cambrian ...
2021-06-02
CRISPR-based technologies offer enormous potential to benefit human health and safety, from disease eradication to fortified food supplies. As one example, CRISPR-based gene drives, which are engineered to spread specific traits through targeted populations, are being developed to stop the transmission of devastating diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
But many scientists and ethicists have raised concerns over the unchecked spread of gene drives. Once deployed in the wild, how can scientists prevent gene drives from uncontrollably spreading across populations ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] MicroRNAs may contribute to atherogenesis in a cell-type-dependent manner
