Introduction Multiple studies have suggested an association between cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and essential hypertension (EH). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in the development of EH by regulating the expression of specific target genes. However, little is known about the role of miRNAs in CMV-induced EH. In this study, we compared the miRNA expression profiles of samples from normal and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-infected C57BL/6 mice using high-throughput sequencing analysis. Methods We collected the thoracic aorta, heart tissues, and peripheral blood from twenty normal mice and twenty MCMV-infected mice. We identified differentially expressed miRNAs in the peripheral blood samples and predicted their target genes using bioinformatics tools. We then experimentally validated them using qRT-PCR and the target genes with double luciferase reporter gene assay. Results We found 118 differentially expressed miRNAs, among which 9 miRNAs were identified as potential MCMV infection-induced hypertension regulators. We then validated the expression of two candidate miRNAs, mmu-miR-1929-3p and mcmv-miR-m01-4-5p, using qRT-PCR. Furthermore, the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay revealed that the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of endothelin A receptor (Ednra) mRNA contained a binding site for mmu-miR-1929-3p. Collectively, our data suggest that MCMV infection can raise the blood pressure and reduce mmu-miR-1929-3p expression in C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, we found that mmu-miR-1929-3p targets the 3'-UTR of the Ednra mRNA. Conclusion This novel regulatory axis could aid the development of new approaches for the clinical prevention and control of EH.

中文翻译：

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巨细胞病毒感染引起的高血压小鼠中差异表达的microRNA和靶基因的筛选和验证。

引言多项研究表明巨细胞病毒（CMV）感染与原发性高血压（EH）之间存在关联。MicroRNA（miRNA）通过调节特定靶基因的表达在EH的发展中起关键作用。但是，关于miRNA在CMV诱导的EH中的作用了解甚少。在这项研究中，我们使用高通量测序分析比较了正常和鼠巨细胞病毒（MCMV）感染的C57BL / 6小鼠样品的miRNA表达谱。方法我们收集了20只正常小鼠和20只MCMV感染小鼠的胸主动脉，心脏组织和外周血。我们在外周血样本中鉴定了差异表达的miRNA，并使用生物信息学工具预测了其靶基因。然后，我们使用qRT-PCR和双荧光素酶报道基因检测法对靶基因进行了实验验证。结果我们发现了118个差异表达的miRNA，其中9个miRNA被鉴定为潜在的MCMV感染诱导的高血压调节因子。然后，我们使用qRT-PCR验证了两个候选miRNA的表达，即mmu-miR-1929-3p和mcmv-miR-m01-4-5p。此外，双荧光素酶报告基因测定表明，内皮素A受体（Ednra）mRNA的3'-非翻译区（UTR）包含mmu-miR-1929-3p的结合位点。总的来说，我们的数据表明MCMV感染可以升高血压并降低C57BL / 6小鼠的mmu-miR-1929-3p表达。此外，我们发现mmu-miR-1929-3p靶向Ednra mRNA的3'-UTR。