Abstract： Objective To observe the expression changes of microRNA 1 （miRNA-1） and microRNA 21（miRNA-21） after ischemic preconditioning （IPC）, ischemic postconditioning （IPO） and remote ischemic preconditioning （RIPC）in an ischemia-reperfusion rat heart model in vitro, as well as the expression of their target protein heat shock protein 70 （HSP70） and programmed cell death 4 （PDCD4）, and evaluate whether miRNA are involved in endogenous cardio-protective mechanism. Methods The Langendorff-perfused Sprague-Dawley rat hearts were randomly assigned into one of the four groups, control group （CON group, n=12）, ischemia preconditioning group （IPC group， n=12） , ischemia postconditioning group （IPO group， n=12） and remote ischemia preconditioning group （RIPC group，n=12）. Cardiac function was digitalized and analyzed. The expression of HSP70, PDCD4, B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 （Bcl-2） and Bax was detected by Western blotting. The expression of miRNA-1 and miRNA-21 was detected by real-time reverse transcriotion-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. Assessment of cardiac infarct size and myocardial apoptosis was determined using triphenyltetrazolium chloride （TTC） assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling assay （TUNEL） assay respectively. Results The expressions of miRNA-1 and miRNA-21 were up-regulated in IPC group, but the expression of miRNA-1 was down-regulated in RIPC group and IPO group （P＜0.05）. The expressionsof PDCD4, HSP70 and Bax were down-regulated in ‘conditioning’ groups compared with CON group （P＜0.05）. The expression of Bcl-2 was not statistically different among the four groups. The infarct size and the myocardial apoptosis in ‘conditioning’ hearts were significantly decreased compared with CON group （P＜0.05）. Conclusion The expressions of the miRNA-1 and miRNA-21 are different in IPC, RIPC and IPO groups, and their target proteins are not inversely correlated with the miRNAs in all the ‘conditioning’ groups.
Objective To explore the induction of cardiomyogenesis of microRNA-129 （mir-129） in rat bone marrowmesenchymal stem cells （BM-MSCs） and its mechanism. Methods BM-MSCs were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats and cultured in vitro. Overexpression of mir-129 or both mir-129 and glycogen synthase kinase-3β （GSK-3β） in BM-MSCs was produced with a lentiviral vector system. All the BM-MSCs were divided into four groups: control group （MSCs），Lentiviral vectors＋MSCs group （Lv-MSCs），mir-129 transfection group （mir-129-MSCs），and mir-129＋GSK-3βdouble transfection group （mir-129＋GSK-3β-MSCs）. Five-Azacytidine （5-Aza） （10 μmol/L） was used to induce BM-MSCsdifferentiation into cardiomyocytes. On the 1st，5 th，10 th，15 th and 20 th day after induction，realtime-PCR was performedto detect mRNA levels of GATA-4，Nkx2.5 and MEF-2C. On the 10 th，15 th and 20 th day after induction，Western blottingwas performed to examine expression levels of cTnI，Desmin，GSK-3β，phosphorylated β-catenin and dephosphorylated β-catenin. Results Compared with the control group，at respective time points，mRNA levels of cardiomyogenic genes and expression levels of cardiomyocyte-related proteins of mir-129 transfection group were significantly elevated，theexpression level of GSK-3β was significantly decreased，and the ratio of dephosphorylated/phosphorylated β-catenin was significantly elevated. When both mir-129 and GSK-3β were overexpressed in BM-MSCs，mRNA levels of cardiomyogenicgenes and expression levels of cardiomyocyte-related proteins were significantly lower than those of mir-129 transfection group，and the ratio of dephosphorylated/phosphorylated β-catenin was significantly decreased. Conclusion Overexpression of mir-129 can promote cardiomyogenesis of rat BM-MSCs possibly via inhibiting GSK-3β production and thus decreasing the inhibition of phosphorylation of β-catenin which then enters the nucleus and activates downstream signaling pathways that regulate cardiomyogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs.