MicroRNA-24 regulates vascularity after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction leads to cardiac remodeling and development of heart failure. Insufficient myocardial capillary density after myocardial infarction has been identified as a critical event in this process, although the underlying mechanisms of cardiac angiogenesis are mechanistically not well understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here, we show that the small noncoding RNA microRNA-24 (miR-24) is enriched in cardiac endothelial cells and considerably upregulated after cardiac ischemia. MiR-24 induces endothelial cell apoptosis, abolishes endothelial capillary network formation on Matrigel, and inhibits cell sprouting from endothelial spheroids. These effects are mediated through targeting of the endothelium-enriched transcription factor GATA2 and the p21-activated kinase PAK4, which were identified by bioinformatic predictions and validated by luciferase gene reporter assays. Respective downstream signaling cascades involving phosphorylated BAD (Bcl-XL/Bcl-2-associated death promoter) and Sirtuin1 were identified by transcriptome, protein arrays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses. Overexpression of miR-24 or silencing of its targets significantly impaired angiogenesis in zebrafish embryos. Blocking of endothelial miR-24 limited myocardial infarct size of mice via prevention of endothelial apoptosis and enhancement of vascularity, which led to preserved cardiac function and survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that miR-24 acts as a critical regulator of endothelial cell apoptosis and angiogenesis and is suitable for therapeutic intervention in the setting of ischemic heart disease.

Reversal of TNP-470-induced endothelial cell growth arrest by guanine and guanine nucleosides.

The mechanism of action of TNP-470 [O-(chloroacetyl-carbamoyl) fumagillol], which potently and selectively inhibits the proliferation of endothelial cells, is incompletely understood. Previous studies have established its binding protein and the most distal effector of its growth arrest activity as methionine aminopeptidase 2 (MetAP-2) and p21(WAF1/CIP1), respectively. However, the mechanistic steps between these two effectors have not been identified. We have found that addition of exogenous guanine and guanine-containing nucleosides to culture medium will completely reverse the cytostatic effect of TNP-470 on both cultured bovine aortic and mouse pulmonary endothelial cells. Western blotting showed that supplementation with exogenous guanosine reverses the induction of p21(WAF1/CIP1) by TNP-470. This "rescue" by guanine/guanosine was abolished when the guanine salvage pathway of nucleotide biosynthesis was inhibited with Immucillin H, suggesting that TNP-470 might reduce de novo guanine synthesis in endothelial cells. However, an analysis of inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase, the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo guanine synthesis and target of the antiangiogenic drug mycophenolic acid, showed no TNP-470-induced changes. Curiously, quantitation of cellular nucleotides confirmed that GTP levels were not reduced after TNP-470 treatment. Addition of guanosine at the start of G(1) phase causes a doubling in GTP levels that persists to the G(1)/S phase transition, where commitment to TNP-470 growth arrest occurs. Thus, guanine rescue involves an augmentation of cellular GTP beyond physiological levels rather than a restoration of a drug-induced GTP deficit. Determining the mechanism whereby this causes restoration of endothelial cell proliferation is an ongoing investigation.

Study of in vitro and in vivo effect of docosahexaenoic acid on rat C6 glioma.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may have potential anticarcinogenic effect. In the present study, effect of DHA on rat C6 glioma was tested. In vitro, cytotoxic effect of 50-400 microM DHA on C6 cells was evaluated and compared with linoleic acid (LA). In vivo, adult female Wistar rats implanted with C6 tumor, fed 1 ml of DHA oil (containing 73% DHA, 36 rats) or LA oil (containing 72-77% LA, 41 rats) daily, starting one week prior to tumor implantation until death or if survived, until 30 days after implantation. Another group of tumor bearing rats was treated with chloroethyl-cyclohexyl-nitrosourea (CCNU, 30 mg/kg, 31 rats) at day 8 post implantation to show if the result of oil supplementation is comparable to single agent chemotherapy. mRNA expression of p21 and p27 was determined in vitro at 100 and 150 microM of fatty acids and in tumors of rats supplemented with LA or DHA oils. In vitro, DHA, but not LA, had cytotoxic effect on C6 cells at 200 and 400 microM and DHA increased mRNA expression of p21 at 150 microM (p < 0.05). In rat glioma model, although a non-significant trend towards better survival was observed in DHA oil relative to LA oil group, the difference was not significant (p = 0.20). p21 and p27 mRNA expression in tumors of DHA oil group did not differ with LA oil group. Single dose of CCNU increased survival when compared to LA oil group (p < 0.001). In conclusion, intake of DHA at the dose or duration employed in the present study might be insufficient to bring about its cytotoxic action on rat's C6 brain tumor.