Academic Editor: Brian Tomlinson
Background and Aims: Epicardial adipose tissue, exosomes, and
miRNAs have important activities in atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study
was to establish miRNA expression profiles of epicardial adipose tissue-derived
exosomes in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. Methods: Biopsies of
epicardial adipose tissue were obtained from patients with and without coronary
artery disease (CAD, n = 12 and NCAD, n = 12) during elective open-heart
surgeries. Tissue was incubated with DMEM-F12 for 24 hours. Exosomes were
isolated, then nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy,
and immunoblotting were performed to confirm the existence of exosomes. Total RNA
in exosomes was subjected to high-throughput sequencing to identify
differentially expressed miRNAs. MicroRNA target gene prediction was performed,
and target genes were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of
Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and mirPath to identify function. Reverse transcription
quantitative PCR was performed to confirm the differentially expressed
miRNAs. Results: Fifty-three unique miRNAs were identified
(adjusted p