An essential role of miR‐21 in vascular neointimal lesion formation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of endogenous, small, noncoding RNAs that regulate about 30% encoding genes of the human genome. However, the role of miRNAs in vascular disease is currently completely unknown. Using microarray analysis, we demonstrated for the first time that miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in the vascular walls after balloon injury. The aberrantly expressed miRNAs were further confirmed by Northern blot and real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Modulating an aberrantly overexpressed miRNA, miR‐21, via antisense‐mediated depletion (knock‐down) had a significant negative effect on neointimal lesion formation. In vitro, the expression level of miR‐21 in dedifferentiated vascular smooth muscle cells was significantly higher than that in fresh isolated, differentiated cells. Depletion of miR‐21 resulted in decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis in a dose dependent manner. MiR‐21‐mediated cellular effects were further confirmed in vivo in balloon‐injured rat carotid arteries. The results suggest that miRNAs are novel regulatory RNAs for neointimal lesion formation. MiRNAs may be a new therapeutic target for proliferative vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, postangioplasty restenosis, transplantation arteriopathy and stroke.