The biomarkers of key miRNAs and target genes associated with acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is considered one of the most prominent causes of death from cardiovascular disease worldwide. Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying AMI remains limited. Accurate biomarkers are needed to predict the risk of AMI and would be beneficial for managing the incidence rate. The gold standard for the diagnosis of AMI, the cardiac troponin T (cTnT) assay, requires serial testing, and the timing of measurement with respect to symptoms affects the results. As attractive candidate diagnostic biomarkers in AMI, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are easily detectable, generally stable and tissue specific. METHODS: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to compare miRNA expression between AMI and control samples, and the interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs were analysed for expression and function. Furthermore, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed. The miRNAs identified in the bioinformatic analysis were verified by RT-qPCR in an H9C2 cell line. The miRNAs in plasma samples from patients with AMI (n = 11) and healthy controls (n = 11) were used to construct receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to evaluate the clinical prognostic value of the identified miRNAs. RESULTS: We identified eight novel miRNAs as potential candidate diagnostic biomarkers for patients with AMI. In addition, the predicted target genes provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying AMI.