Identification of differentially expressed micro- and mRNA clusters in blood of patients with coronary artery disease: intersection with calcification pathways and implications in cardio-vascular diseases
<p>Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the main and common types of cardio-vascular diseases, which occurs as a result of atherosclerotic plaque formation in blood vessels during ageing. Increased levels of calcium deposition were detected in blood vessels of patients with CAD and linked to early CAD formation. Here, we hypothesized that these two processes are linked and possess common molecular basis, which is realized through regulation of target genes involved in calcification and CAD.</p>
<p>To validate our hypothesis, we used a bioinformatics approach, in which micro- and mRNA data of blood samples from 12 patients with CAD were analyzed. Several high quality data sets were extracted from GEO database, analyzed by commercially available program TR GeneGo Metacore, statistically verified by J-express algorithms and analyzed using statistical methods implemented in R.</p>
<p>Analysis of GEO data revealed patterns of differentially expressed microRNAs in patients with CAD. We have shown the involvement of the differentially expressed microRNAs (hsa-miR-154; hsa-miR-451; hsa-miR-17) in signalling pathways associated with vascular calcification. Additionally, we obtained data of mRNA expression, showing several clusters of genes, which are involved in vascular calcification pathways in patients with CAD and developed an interaction map of differentially expressed genes in the blood of CAD patients and genes associated with vascular calcification.</p>
<p>We conclude that patients with CAD have several differentially expressed gene markers, which may have different impact on calcification development. Data provided may have a positive outcome for cardio-vascular diagnosis strategy and personalized medicine.</p
