Signature microRNA expression profile is associated with spontaneous hypertension in African green monkey

Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus, the African Green monkey (AGM), has been proved to exhibit renal vascular remodeling and spontaneous hypertension. However, little is known about the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in this process.Using small RNA deep sequencing, we compared the plasma miRNA expression patterns between hypertensive (HT) AGMs and normotensive (NT) AGMs. Expression of miRNAs (miR-122, miR-339, miR-296-5p) was validated independently in plasma samples from 10 HT AGMs and 10 NT AGMs (fold changes are 2.0, 1.6, 2.7 respectively; all P< 0.001). Potential BP (blood pressure)-regulating mRNA targets were predicted by TargetScan and confirmed in the Vero cells. We report for the first time a circulating miRNA profile for AGM. miRNAs, such as miR-122, miR-339, miR-296-5p, may be involved in renal pathologies and spontaneous hypertension of AGM.

非洲绿猴（African Green monkey, AGM），学名Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus，已被证实可发生肾血管重构与自发性高血压。然而，目前关于microRNAs (miRNAs)在该病理过程中的作用仍不明晰。本研究采用小RNA深度测序技术，对比了高血压（hypertensive, HT）非洲绿猴与正常血压（normotensive, NT）非洲绿猴的血浆miRNA表达谱。研究针对miR-122、miR-339、miR-296-5p的表达水平，在10例高血压非洲绿猴与10例正常血压非洲绿猴的血浆样本中开展了独立验证：三者的表达倍数分别为2.0、1.6、2.7，所有结果均具有极显著统计学差异（P<0.001）。本研究通过TargetScan预测了潜在的血压（blood pressure, BP）调控mRNA靶标，并在Vero细胞中完成了验证。本研究首次报道了非洲绿猴的循环miRNA表达谱。miR-122、miR-339、miR-296-5p等miRNAs可能参与非洲绿猴的肾病理进程与自发性高血压的发生发展。