Changes in miR expression profile carotid plaques induced by acutely induced flow disturbances in apoe-/- mice on a high fat diet.. Mus musculus

Atherosclerosis is causally related to disturbed flow through low and oscillatory shear stress. In order to study the miR expression profile in atherosclerotic plaques induced by disturbed flow, partial ligation of the carotid artery was performed. This procedure results acutely in severly reduced blood flow and in stenotic lesion formation within 6 weeks in apoe-/- mice on a high fat diet. We compared the miR expression profile in partially ligated left carotid arteries with the untreated right carotid artery to identify miRs which are involved in plaque formation through flow disturbances. Overall design: The left carotid arteries of 6 female apoe-/- mice (6-8 weeks) were partially ligated (i.e. the external and internal carotid artery as well as the occipital artery were occluded; blood flow out of the common carotid artery occurs mainly through the superior thyroid artery). Following partial ligation the animals were fed a high fat diet for 6 weeks. Total RNA was isolated from partially ligated left carotid arteries and untreated right carotid arteries (control). MiRs expression profile of the partially ligated carotid arteries were compared with the control group. Biological replicates: 6 per group. One replicate per array.

动脉粥样硬化（Atherosclerosis）与低振荡剪切应力诱导的血流扰动存在明确因果关联。为探究血流扰动引发的动脉粥样硬化斑块中miR（microRNA）的表达谱特征，本研究采用颈动脉部分结扎术构建模型。该术式可在术后短期内显著降低血流量，使饲喂高脂饮食的载脂蛋白E基因敲除（apoe-/-）小鼠在6周内形成狭窄性动脉粥样硬化病变。本研究通过对比部分结扎左侧颈动脉与未处理右侧颈动脉的miR表达谱，以期识别参与血流扰动介导的斑块形成过程的miR。整体实验设计：选取6只6~8周龄的雌性载脂蛋白E基因敲除（apoe-/-）小鼠，对其左侧颈动脉实施部分结扎（即结扎颈外动脉、颈内动脉及枕动脉，颈总动脉血流主要经甲状腺上动脉流出）。结扎术后，小鼠接受为期6周的高脂饮食喂养。从部分结扎的左侧颈动脉及未处理的右侧颈动脉（对照组）中提取总RNA，对两组样本的miR表达谱进行比较分析。生物学重复：每组设置6个生物学重复，每个基因芯片阵列对应1个生物学重复。