Dysregulated miR-361-5p/VEGF Axis in the Plasma and Endothelial Progenitor Cells of Patients with Coronary Artery Disease
Figure 4
The miR-361-5p/VEGF pair contributes to CAD-EPC activities.
(A) Structure of the VEGF transcript and the predicted binding site between the VEGF 3′UTR (untranslated region) and miR-361-5p. (B) A luciferase reporter plasmid containing either the miR-361-5p binding site (WT) or a mutant (Mut) binding site were co-transfected with miR-361-5p. The luciferase activity was assessed 2 days post-transfection (right panel). The expression levels of miR-361-5p were detected by RT-qPCR (left panel). *: p<0.05 by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's post-hoc test. (C–D) Neutralization of VEGF in miR-361-5p-reduced (by antagomirs) CAD-EPCs suppresses cellular activities. miR-361-5p and VEGF levels in treated CAD-EPCs were determined by RT-qPCR (C). Transwell migration (D, left panel) and tube formation (D, right panel) assays were conducted on CAD-EPCs treated with the indicated antagomirs and/or the Avastin anti-VEGF mAb. Representative pictures are in Suppl. Figs. 2A-B online, and the quantitative results of the images are shown. *: p<0.05 by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's post-hoc test.