MicroRNA-101a protects against the H₂O₂-induced injury on cardiomyocytes via targeting BCL2L11

Objective: MicroRNAs (miRs) have been confirmed to be involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases, in spite of numerous studies elucidating the effect and mechanism of miRs in the progression of cardiac ischemia reperfusion injury (I/R), the understanding of their roles is still limited. Methods: All rats underwent the same I/R procedure, while sham group experienced the surgical procedure but without the ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Results: Here, we found miR-101a which was proved down-regulated significantly in myocardium and cariomyocytes subjected to I/R and H2O2 treatment respectively. In vivo and in vitro studies determined the protective role of miR-101a from I/R and oxidative stress injury. It attenuated the size of ischemia area and the cardiomycyte apoptosis under I/R and cariomyocytes treatment. Mechanically, BCL2L11 was predicted and then verified to be targeted by miR-101a. Moreover, rescue experiment and RNA pull down further verified the interaction between miR-101a and BCL2L11. Conclusions: Our findings revealed miR-101a may be a therapeutic target for the therapeutic target for ischemic heart diseases and expanded our understanding of the molecular mechanism underling the progression of I/R injury.