Effect of miRNA26b knockout on vascular calcification [RNA-seq]

Vascular calcification is the abnormal deposition of calcium phosphates within the blood vessels. Although it significantly contributes to the development of cardiovascular disease, much remains unknown about the mechanisms driving this process. Recent advances have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) could be critical in regulating the biological processes driving vascular calcification. Here, we investigated whether miR-26b could regulate vascular calcification. By performing bulk RNA-seq of the aorta of miR-26bKO mice, we identified cell-specific targets and demonstrated that BMP signalling is dysregulated in aortic cells. To investigate the contribution of miRNA26b to the development of vascular calcification in mice we generated miRNA26b knockout model (miRNA26bKO) . We performed RNA-seq using the whole aorta from deliniate regulated pathways.The whole mouse aorta was harvested from 6-month-old wild-type and miR-26bKO mice. The aorta was dissected from surrounding tissue, and the perivascular fat was removed. Total RNA was isolated using Qiazol reagent and miRNeasy mini Kit (217004, QIAGEN, Germany). Bulk RNA-seq to determine the transcriptomes of the aorta of 6-month old age mice (wildtype n = 3 and miR26bKO n = 3) .