microRNA-21 promotes cardiac fibrosis and development of heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction by up-regulating Bcl-2.

microRNA-21 promotes cardiac fibrosis and development of heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction by up-regulating Bcl-2. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2014;7(2):565-74 Authors: Dong S, Ma W, Hao B, Hu F, Yan L, Yan X, Wang Y, Chen Z, Wang Z Abstract The morbidity and mortality of heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) were similar to those of systolic heart failure, but the pathogenesis of HFpEF remains poorly understood. It was demonstrated that, in systolic heart failure, microRNA-21 (miR-21) could inhibit the apoptosis of cardiac fibroblasts, leading to cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis, but the role of miR-21 in HFpEF remains unknown. By employing cell culture technique, rat myocardiocytes and cardiac fibroblasts were obtained. The expression of miR-21 in the two cell types under different conditions was compared and we found that the miR-21 expression was significantly higher in cardiac fibroblasts than in myocardiocytes. We established a rat HFpEF model and harvested the tissues of cardiac apex for pathological examination, Northern blotting and so forth. We found that miR-21 expression was significantly higher in model rats than in sham-operated rats, and the model rats developed the cardiac atrophy and cardiac fibrosis. After injection of miR-21 antagonist, the the cardiac atrophy and cardiac fibrosis were conspicuously ameliorated. Both in vivo and in vitro, inhibition of miR...
Source: International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Int J Clin Exp Pathol Source Type: research