MicroRNA-1 Downregulates Gene Expression Of Endothelin-1

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictive and mitogenitic peptide generated by all types of cardiovascular cells. It plays an important role in many physiologic and pathophysiological processes such as heart development, heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy, arrhythmia and so on. ET-1 expression is regulated at different levels, among which posttranscriptional regulation is of great importance. MicroRNAs are evolutionarily conserved endogenous 19～22-nt noncoding RNAs involved in posttranscriptional gene repression. It can specifically bind to 3-UTRs of target cellular mRNAs, leading to either mRNA degradation or inhibition of translation. Comparing the spatio-temporal expression profiles of microRNA-1 and ET-1mRNA using real-time PCR , we predicted that microRNA-1 may regulate ET-1 expression. With multiple methods of functional research, including reporter gene and target mutation, we confirmed this hypothesis. Our study indicates that microRNAs can function as a regulator for substances with cardiovascular effects.