A high-content screen of a whole-genome microRNA silencing library in endothelial cells revealed several anti- and pro-proliferative microRNAs. Among those was MicroRNA-216a, a pro-angiogenic microRNA that is enriched in cardiac microvascular endothelial cells and reduced in expression under cardiac stress conditions. MicroRNA-216a null mice were generated and showed a dramatic cardiac phenotype related to impaired myocardial vascularization and unbalanced autophagy and inflammation.
In this landmark paper, Paula da Costa Martins and collaborators discovered an essential non-coding RNA that is responsible for the formation of the microvasculature.
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Juni RP, Kocken JMM, Abreu RC, Ottaviani L, Davalan T, Duygu B, Poels EM, Vasilevich A, Hegenbarth JC, Appari M, Bitsch N, Olieslagers S, Schrijvers DM, Stoll M, Heineke J, de Boer J, de Windt LJ, da Costa Martins PA. MicroRNA-216a is essential for cardiac angiogenesis. Mol Ther. 2023 [doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.04.007] [PubMed]