Nanoparticle-Delivered microRNA-153-3p Alleviates Myocardial Infarction-Induced Myocardial Injury in a Rat Model

Although microRNA-153-3p (miR-153-3p) has been demonstrated to confer protective roles in ischemia/reperfusion injury, its potential role in myocardial infarction (MI) remains undefined. Small-molecule modifiers and nanoparticles loaded with microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as potential therapeutic reagents for MI treatment. In this study, we prepared liposome nanoparticles, hyaluronic acid (HA)-cationic liposomes (CLPs) complex, for the delivery of miR-153-3p and delineated the mechanistic actions of miR-153-3p modified by nHA-CLPs in MI-induced injury. Our data suggested that nHA-CLPs-loaded miR-153-3p protected cardiomyocytes against MI-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and myocardial injury. miR-153-3p was bioinformatically predicted and experimentally verified to bind to Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) 3'UTR and negatively regulate its expression. Hypoxia was adopted to stimulate MI-induced injury to cardiomyocytes in vitro, in which miR-153-3p presented anti-apoptotic potential. However, restoration of KLF5 reversed this anti-apoptotic effect of miR-153-3p. Furthermore, KLF5 was demonstrated to be an activator of the NF-κB pathway. KLF5 enhanced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and inflammation under hypoxic conditions through NF-κB pathway activation, while nHA-CLPs-loaded miR-153-3p suppressed inflammation by blocking the NF-κB pathway. Collectively, our findings suggested the cardioprotective role of miR-153-3p against MI and the successful delivery of miR-153-3p by nHA-CLPs. The identification of KLF5-mediated activation of NF-κB pathway as an apoptotic and inflammatory mechanism aids in better understanding of the biology of MI and development of novel therapeutic strategies for MI.