Upregulation of miR-330-5p is associated with carotid plaque’s stability by targeting Talin-1 in symptomatic carotid stenosis patients

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Talin-1 and stability of carotid atherosclerosis plaque and also find out the role of miRNA, as an upstream regulator, in regulating the expression level of Talin-1. METHODS: Human carotid plaques were obtained from 20 symptomatic carotid stenosis patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in our hospital between October 2014 and August 2017. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect the distribution and expression level of Talin-1 in each plaque sample. The content of miRNAs in carotid plaque was decected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the relative expression levels were calculated by 2(-△△Ct) method after the (cycle threshold) Ct value (power amplification knee point) was obtained. Dual-luciferase reporter assays were applied to verify the successful transfections. Finally, we compared all the groups with independent-samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Talin-1 was significantly downregulated in human unstable carotid plaque samples compared with stable carotid plaques (P < 0.05), and the distribution of Talin-1 was mainly found in the fibrous cap of carotid plaque. The overexpression of miRNA-330-5p was found in unstable carotid plaque, which significantly induced the inhibition of expression level of Talin-1. CONCLUSION: Upregulated miR-330-5p may lead to unstable carotid plaques by targeting Talin-1 in symptomatic carotid stenosis patients. This might be a new target for the treatment of atherosclerotic diseases through future studies.