Oleanolic acid suppresses vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation by increasing lincRNA-p21 expression

Arteriosclerosis poses a significant risk to human health and involves the thickening and hardening of the walls of arteries. Accumulated evidence demonstrates that aberrant proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) accounts for the onset and progression of arteriosclerosis. Suppression of their proliferation has been demonstrated to be an effective anti-arteriosclerosis strategy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been observed to be implicated in the proliferation of VSMCs and arteriosclerosis. In this study, we observed that oleanolic acid (OA), a natural compound from plants, inhibited the proliferation of VSMCs. The expression of lincRNA-p21, an arteriosclerosis-associated lncRNA, was demonstrated to be elevated by OA treatment. Suppression of lincRNA-p21 rescued the effect of OA on the proliferation of VSMCs. Collectively, targeting lncRNA is a promising strategy for arteriosclerosis prevention and treatment, and OA ameliorates arteriosclerosis by increasing lncRNA levels.