title: Differential expression of microRNAs in aortic tissue and plasma in patients with acute aortic dissection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Biomarker-assisted diagnosis of acute aortic dissection (AAD) is important for diagnosis and treatment. However, identification of biomarkers for AAD in blood is a challenging task. The aim of this study is to search for new potentially microRNA (miRNAs) biomarkers in AAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The miRNAs expression profiles in ascending aortic tissue and plasma were examined by microarray analysis in two sets or groups. The tissue group was composed of four patients with AAD and four controls of healthy male organ donors. The plasma group included 20 patients with AAD and 20 controls without cardiovascular disease. Bioinformatics was used to analyze the potential targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study revealed that in AAD patients, the aortic tissue had 30 differentially expressed miRNAs with 13 up-regulated and 17 down-regulated, and plasma had 93 differentially expressed miRNAs, of which 33 were up-regulated and 60 were down-regulated. Four miRNAs were found to be up-regulated in both aortic tissue and plasma in AAD patients. The predicted miRNA targets indicated the four dysregulated miRNAs mainly targeted genes that were associated with cell-cell adhesion, extracellular matrix metabolism, cytoskeleton organization, inflammation, and multiple signaling pathways related to cellular cycles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Four miRNAs, which are up-regulated both in aortic tissue and in plasma in AAD patients, have been identified in this study. These miRNAs might be potential diagnostic biomarkers for AAD. Larger sample investigations are needed for further verification.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Sino-German Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jian
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tian-Yi
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Han
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Sino-German Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ru-Tai
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Hui
keywords: Acute aortic dissection; Biomarker; Diagnosis; MicroRNAs