Analysis of miRNA profile in circulating microparticles of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Introduction: Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have increased numbers of circulating microparticles (MPs), which are small membrane vesicles ( Methods: Circulating MPs, derived from platelet poor plasma, from 5 control healthy subjects and 5 PAH patients were analyzed. After total RNA isolation, 59 and 39 adapter clipping and cDNA synthesis, we performed deep sequencing using IluminaSeq technology with a HiSeq1000. After annotation of small RNA reads against miRBase, differential expression analysis was performed applying the DEseq pakage on patient samples (control 1 to 4 and treated 2 to 5). Results: Patients with PAH showed differentially expressed miRNA: hsa-miR-582-3p, hsa-miR 1246, hsa-miR-122-5p,hsa-miR-3200-3p, hsa-miR-197-3p, miR-193a-5p and hsa-miR-378a-3p were upregulated, whereas hsa-miR-126-5p was down-regulated. Conclusions: PAH patients pack and transport a differentiated expression profile of miRNAs, suggesting that MPs might serve as signalling vectors. Further analyses of the functionality of MPs9 miRNAs may provide clues on its pathogenic role in PAH. Supported by grant FIS PI12/00510 and PI13/00836.