Angiotensin II-induced long non-coding RNA Alivec regulates chondrogenesis in vascular smooth muscle cells

Alivec is a novel lncRNA found to be upregulated by Ang II stimulation in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (RVSMCs). The regulatory mechanisms of rat Alivec have not been reported so far. We used microarrays to investigate Alivec-mediated global gene expression and identified distinct classes of up- and down-regulated genes. RVSMCs were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats by enzymatic digestion and cultured for 3 passages before using in experiments. Cells were transfected with either negative control GapmeR (NCGap) or Gapmer targeting rat Alivec (AlivecGap). After 48 hours, cells were treated with either 100 nM of Angiotensin II or equivalent volume of 1x PBS for 3 hours. Total RNA was extracted and gene expression analyzed using rat microarrays.