Affiliations: [a]
Department of Cardiology, Nanjing Jiangning Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China
| [b]
Department of Cardiology, Nanjing Tongren Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University School of Medicine, Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China
| [c]
Emergency Department, Ben Q Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Qi Wang, Department of Cardiology, Nanjing Tongren Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University School of Medicine, No. 2007, Jiyin Avenue, Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone, Nanjing, China. Tel.: +86 25 66988112; E-mail: wq90713@163.com.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common coronary artery disease. The functional mechanism of circular RNA (circRNA) HECT, C2 and WW domain containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2 (circ_HECW2, hsa_circ_0057583) in ox-LDL-treated human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (hCMECs) is still unclear. METHODS:Expression levels of circ_HECW2, microRNA (miR)-942-5p, and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot assays. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed by 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. Tube formation assay was performed to analyze the angiogenesis of cells. Luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were performed to analyze the target relationship among circ_HECW2, miR-942-5p and TLR4. RESULTS:Circ_HECW2 and TLR4 expression levels were up-regulated and miR-942-5p expression was decreased in the serum of CAD patients and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-induced hCMECs. Knockdown of circ_HECW2 enhanced cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis in ox-LDL-treated hCMECs. MiR-942-5p was the target of circ_HECW2 and directly targeted TLR4. Moreover, the effect of circ_HECW2 knockdown could be weakened by anti-miR-942-5p, and TLR4 could restore the function of miR-942-5p on cell damage of ox-LDL-induced hCMECs. CONCLUSION:Circ_HECW2 could regulate ox-LDL-induced cardiovascular endothelial cell dysfunction through targeting miR-942-5p/TLR4 axis.
