miR-124-3p regulates angiogenesis in peripheral arterial disease by targeting STAT3

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD ) is the third leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity worldwide, after coronary artery disease and stroke. As endogenous regulators of gene expression, microRNA s (miRs) are implicated in the development and progression of various diseases, including types of cancer, autoimmune diseases and heart diseases. In the present study, the role of miR- 124-3p in PAD was investigated. The reverse transcription-quantitative PCR results indicated that the expression levels of miR- 124-3p were significantly increased in the ischemic tissue of the hindlimb ischemia (HLI ) model and in hypoxic human umbilical vein endothelial cells compared with the corresponding control groups. Proliferation, wound healing and tube formation assays demonstrated the inhibition of miR- 124-3p on angiogenesis in vitro and the HLI model indicated the same function of miR- 124-3p in vivo. A dual-luciferase reporter revealed STAT3 as the target of miR- 124-3p. The expression levels of miR- 124-3p in human blood were negatively correlated with ankle-brachial index, which is an index for the evaluation of the severity of PAD . Collectively, the present study indicated that miR- 124-3p was a critical regulator of angiogenesis in PAD , and a potential diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic target for PAD .