Identification of two miRNAs regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation in an Antarctic icefish
Qianghua Xu,
Ruonan Jia,
Fei Yang,
Peng Hu,
Xue Li,
Saiya Ge,
Shouwen Jiang,
Jiulin Chan,
Wanying Zhai,
Liangbiao Chen
Affiliations
Qianghua Xu
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China; International Research Center for Marine Biosciences (Ministry of Science and Technology), Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Corresponding author
Ruonan Jia
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Fei Yang
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Peng Hu
International Research Center for Marine Biosciences (Ministry of Science and Technology), Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Resources and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Xue Li
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Saiya Ge
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Shouwen Jiang
International Research Center for Marine Biosciences (Ministry of Science and Technology), Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Resources and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Jiulin Chan
Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Wanying Zhai
International Research Center for Marine Biosciences (Ministry of Science and Technology), Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Resources and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
Liangbiao Chen
International Research Center for Marine Biosciences (Ministry of Science and Technology), Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Resources and Utilization, Ministry of Education, College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China; Corresponding author
Summary: The hemoglobinless Antarctic icefish develop large hearts to compensate for reduced oxygen-carrying capacity, which serves as a naturally occurred model to explore the factors regulating cardiogenesis. Through miRNAome and microRNAome comparisons between an icefish (Chionodraco hamatus) and two red-blooded notothenioids, we discovered significant upregulation of factors in the BMP signaling pathways and altered expression of many miRNAs, including downregulation of 14 miRNAs in the icefish heart. Through knocking down of these miRNAs, we identified two of them, miR-458-3p and miR-144-5p, involved in enlarged heart development. The two miRNAs were found to regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation by targeting bone morphogenetic protein-2 (bmp2). We further validated that activation of the miRNA-bmp2 signaling in the fish heart could be triggered by hypoxic exposure. Our study suggested that a few miRNAs play important roles in the hypoxia-induced cardiac remodeling of the icefish which shed new light on the mechanisms regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation in heart.
