Project description:To determine the effect of antimiR-122 administration on the mouse miRNome. To functionally investigate a possible link between miR-122 and iron metabolism we inhibited miR-122 by a single, intraperitoneal injection of Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA)-modified antimiR oligonucleotides into age- and sex-matched C57Bl/6 WT mice. To inhibit miR-122 specifically, we injected an antimiR compound with perfect complementarity to miR-122 [perfect match (PM); PM_antimiR-122]. As negative controls, mice were either injected with an LNA control compound with two mismatches (2MM, 2MM_antimiR-122) or the vehicle control (SAL; 0.9% NaCl). Mice were sacrificed three and six weeks after injection. Independent of treatment, mice were viable and exhibited no overt physical or behavioral abnormalities. To exclude that PM_antimiR-122 administration disturbs the expression of other miRNAs we analyzed miRNA expression profiles in the livers, hearts and spleens of the same mice.
Project description:Antagonism of microRNA-122 in mice by systemically administered LNA-antimiR leads to up-regulation of a large set of predicted target mRNAs in the liver MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) is an abundant liver-specific miRNA, implicated in fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism as well as hepatitis C viral replication. Here, we report that a systemically administered 16-nt, unconjugated LNA (locked nucleic acid)-antimiR oligonucleotide complementary to the 5' end of miR-122 leads to specific, dose-dependent silencing of miR-122 and shows no hepatotoxicity in mice. Antagonism of miR-122 is due to formation of stable heteroduplexes between the LNA-antimiR and miR-122 as detected by northern analysis. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated uptake of the LNA-antimiR in mouse liver cells, which was accompanied by markedly reduced hybridization signals for mature miR-122 in treated mice. Functional antagonism of miR-122 was inferred from a low cholesterol phenotype and de-repression within 24 h of 199 liver mRNAs showing significant enrichment for miR-122 seed matches in their 3' UTRs. Expression profiling extended to 3 weeks after the last LNA-antimiR dose revealed that most of the changes in liver gene expression were normalized to saline control levels coinciding with normalized miR-122 and plasma cholesterol levels. Combined, these data suggest that miRNA antagonists comprised of LNA are valuable tools for identifying miRNA targets in vivo and for studying the biological role of miRNAs and miRNA-associated gene-regulatory networks in a physiological context. Keywords: compound treatment
Project description:Antagonism of microRNA-122 in mice by systemically administered LNA-antimiR leads to up-regulation of a large set of predicted target mRNAs in the liver; MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) is an abundant liver-specific miRNA, implicated in fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism as well as hepatitis C viral replication. Here, we report that a systemically administered 16-nt, unconjugated LNA (locked nucleic acid)-antimiR oligonucleotide complementary to the 5' end of miR-122 leads to specific, dose-dependent silencing of miR-122 and shows no hepatotoxicity in mice. Antagonism of miR-122 is due to formation of stable heteroduplexes between the LNA-antimiR and miR-122 as detected by northern analysis. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated uptake of the LNA-antimiR in mouse liver cells, which was accompanied by markedly reduced hybridization signals for mature miR-122 in treated mice. Functional antagonism of miR-122 was inferred from a low cholesterol phenotype and de-repression within 24 h of 199 liver mRNAs showing significant enrichment for miR-122 seed matches in their 3' UTRs. Expression profiling extended to 3 weeks after the last LNA-antimiR dose revealed that most of the changes in liver gene expression were normalized to saline control levels coinciding with normalized miR-122 and plasma cholesterol levels. Combined, these data suggest that miRNA antagonists comprised of LNA are valuable tools for identifying miRNA targets in vivo and for studying the biological role of miRNAs and miRNA-associated gene-regulatory networks in a physiological context. Experiment Overall Design: Female NMRI mice were treated at day 2 with either 25mg/kg antimiR-122 (SPC3372) or vehicle (saline). Mice were sacrificied at day 3, 9 and 23 and liver RNA assayed. Three biological replicates for each of the six groups.
Project description:Background MicroRNAs are potent regulators of biology and disease. The miR-15 family has been shown to regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and antimiR-based inhibition induces a cardioprotective effect after myocardial infarction in mice. However, systemic delivery of antimiRs leads to accumulation in kidneys and liver, with relatively poor cardiac exposure. pH-responsive injectable hydrogels serve as a sustained-release drug delivery depot and could potentially be used to improve cardiac efficacy of antimiR therapeutics. Objective Examine whether hydrogel can improve local delivery of antimiR-195 in ischemic hearts to increase cardiac efficacy and limit off-target effects. Methods Study the effect of intramyocardial injections of hydrogel-formulated antimiR-195 under both baseline conditions and after ischemic injury. Results Intracardiac injections of UPy-PEG induced a transient inflammatory response that was no longer present 7 days post-injection. In vitro experiments showed that antimiR-195 was released from the gel, and induced microRNA inhibition leading to downstream cardiomyocyte proliferation. In vivo, intramyocardial delivery of antimiR-195 in UPy-PEG enhanced cardiac target de-repression compared to PBS-dissolved antimiR-195, despite a low cardiac retention. After ischemic injury, this translated into a greater therapeutic effect by increasing both target de-repression and cardiomyocyte proliferation. Conclusions UPy-PEG can be used as a cardiac delivery vehicle of antimiRs and intramyocardial injection of UPy-PEG formulated antimiR-195 is sufficient to improve cardiac efficacy of antimiR-195. Follow up experiments in large animals will enable us to assess the true added value of using UPy-PEG to increase cardiac exposure of antimiR therapies.
Project description:Background MicroRNAs are potent regulators of biology and disease. The miR-15 family has been shown to regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and antimiR-based inhibition induces a cardioprotective effect after myocardial infarction in mice. However, systemic delivery of antimiRs leads to accumulation in kidneys and liver, with relatively poor cardiac exposure. pH-responsive injectable hydrogels serve as a sustained-release drug delivery depot and could potentially be used to improve cardiac efficacy of antimiR therapeutics. Objective Examine whether hydrogel can improve local delivery of antimiR-195 in ischemic hearts to increase cardiac efficacy and limit off-target effects. Methods Study the effect of intramyocardial injections of hydrogel-formulated antimiR-195 under both baseline conditions and after ischemic injury. Results Intracardiac injections of UPy-PEG induced a transient inflammatory response that was no longer present 7 days post-injection. In vitro experiments showed that antimiR-195 was released from the gel, and induced microRNA inhibition leading to downstream cardiomyocyte proliferation. In vivo, intramyocardial delivery of antimiR-195 in UPy-PEG enhanced cardiac target de-repression compared to PBS-dissolved antimiR-195, despite a low cardiac retention. After ischemic injury, this translated into a greater therapeutic effect by increasing both target de-repression and cardiomyocyte proliferation. Conclusions UPy-PEG can be used as a cardiac delivery vehicle of antimiRs and intramyocardial injection of UPy-PEG formulated antimiR-195 is sufficient to improve cardiac efficacy of antimiR-195. Follow up experiments in large animals will enable us to assess the true added value of using UPy-PEG to increase cardiac exposure of antimiR therapies.
Project description:SILAC based protein correlation profiling using size exclusion of protein complexes derived from Mus musculus tissues (Heart, Liver, Lung, Kidney, Skeletal Muscle, Thymus)