miR-320 accelerates chronic heart failure with cardiac fibrosis through activation of the IL6/STAT3 axis

Abstract

Cardiac fibrosis could induce abnormal cardiac function and become a novel target for cardiac hypertrophy and chronic heart failure. MiRNA-320 is a crucial miRNA in cardiovascular disease, but it is poorly understood whether it plays a role in cardiac fibrosis pathogenesis. We aimed to identify the specific underlying mechanism of miR-320 in cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophic pathogenesis. In our study, the GEO datasets revealed that STAT3 was significantly highly expressed in cardiomyocyte lines. MiR-320 activation and STAT3 signaling pathways were statistically significantly connected. Furthermore, miR-320 was highly associated with cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophic disease. Interstitial fibrosis was observed in the mice subjected to TAC surgery, markedly enhanced in miR-320 mimics. Mechanistically, we revealed that miR-320 mimics aggravated the pressure overload and induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis via the IL6/STAT3/PTEN axis. MiR-320 mimics accelerated cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis via the IL6/STAT3/PTEN axis. These results suggest that targeting miR-320 may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis.