Expression profiles of RNA from monocyte-derived small extracellular vesicles in coronary atherosclerosis

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs)-derived circular RNAs (circRNAs) could regulate gene expression in recipient cells, and dysregulation of sEVs-derived circRNAs has been implicated in several diseases. However, the expression and function of sEVs-derived circRNAs in coronary atherosclerosis (CAD) remain unknown. In this study, we investigated global changes in the expression patterns of circRNAs in sEVs from coronary atherosclerosis-related monocytes. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CAD patients and control individuals were isolated by Ficoll-Paque PLUS density gradient centrifugation (GE Healthcare Bioscience). The PBMCs were cryopreserved for less than 3 months at −80°C in 90% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Sigma-Aldrich) and 10% DMSO (Sigma-Aldrich). Monocytes were isolated using the EasySep™ Human Monocytes Isolation Kit (Stemcell Technology) and cultured in RPMI-1640 (Lonza) containing 2 mM glutaMAX (Gibco), 20 µg/mL gentamicin (Gibco), and 2% normal human serum type AB (Invitrogen).