‘Role of micro RNAs expressed by human endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells in myocardial infarction. (MIRMID: micro RNAs in Myocardial Infarction Disease) MIRMID’

Irene Román Degano and Roberto Elosua Llanos, IMIM; and Albert Comalat, Hospital del Mar.

Micro ribonucleic acid (miRNAs) molecules are involved in regulation of gene expression. They participate in different coronary artery disease mechanisms (CAD). The present interdisciplinary project aims at:

1. Identifying the most up/down regulated miRNAs in response to oxidative stress in cultured human vascular smooth muscle (VSMC) and endothelial cells (EC)
2. Determine if these miRNAs are associated to myocardial infarction (AMI)
3. To analyze whether those miRNAs predict 10-year development of CAD events in a population-bases cohort.

We will obtain a differential display of miRNA by exposing EC and VSMC cultures from our collaborative network to native or oxidized LDL. We will select up to 20 miRNAs up/dows regulated above 1.5 times the control cultures to measure their levels in serum from 500 AMI patients and 500 healthy controls, and in a case-control study of 150 incident CAD (myocardial infarction and any type of angina) and 450 healthy cohort followed by 10 years.

The project aims to improve AMI risk stratification, and risk prediction of CAD. The access to both human cell cultures and serum from a large population cohort together with the expertise of the group, covering basic, clinic and epidemiological aspects, provides a unique opportunity to explore the role of these miRNAs in cardiovascular diseases.