The Lnc-RNA APPAT Suppresses Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Migration by Interacting With MiR-647 and FGF5 in Atherosclerosis.

Purpose: LncRNA-Atherosclerotic plaque pathogenesis-associated transcript ( APPAT ) could be detected in circulating blood and has been demonstrated to correlate with the development of atherosclerosis in our previous work. It could be a potential noninvasive biomarker for earlier diagnoses of clinical cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the expression of miR-647 increased in ox-LDL-treated vascular smooth muscle cells and peripheral blood of patients with coronary heart disease. A negative correlation between APPAT and miR-647 was confirmed, and FGF5 was screened as molecular target of miR-647. However, it is largely unclear how APPAT , miR-647, and FGF5 interact and function in disease development. Here, we aim to explore the underlying molecular mechanism in this progression.

Materials and Methods: APPAT , miR-647, and FGF5 expression levels were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; cell proliferation was detected by EdU incorporation assay; cell migration was detected by wound-healing assay; the molecular interaction of APPAT/ FGF5 with miR-647 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay; the western blot was performed to determine the gene expression at protein levels; subcellular localizations of APPAT and miR-647 were observed by fluorescence in situ hybridization; cytosolic and nucleus fractionation assay was performed to further detect the distribution of miR-647.

Results: APPAT and miR-647 have inverse effects on human aortic smooth muscle cells' (HASMCs) proliferation and migration. APPAT negatively regulated the cell activity, whereas miR-647 did it in a positive way (p<0.05). Three pairs of molecular interplay were found: mutual negative regulation between APPAT and miR-647, APPAT downregulated FGF5, miR-647 regulation on FGF5 (p<0.05). Subcellular location assay confirmed the molecular interaction of APPAT and miR-647.

Conclusions: APPAT could suppress the migration and proliferation of ox-LDL-treated HASMCs via interacting with miR-647 and FGF5. We revealed a nontypical competing endogenous RNA mechanism of long noncoding RNA in the progression of atherosclerosis.

Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.