MIRNAVASC · Role of microRNAs in vascular diseases

Atherothrombosis still represents the major cause of death in developed countries. All forms of atheroma are characterized by a risk of arterial wall rupture leading to clinical complications. This involves medial and adventitial ruptures in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and intimal cap rupture in vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. In both cases the rupture may result in the occlusion of an artery by the formation of a thrombus causing an acute event. Being able to predict who is at risk of an acute cardiovascular event is at present one of the major challenges of cardiovascular medicine. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (typically 22 nt in size) regulatory RNA molecules that function to modulate the activity of specific mRNA targets and play important roles in a wide range of physiologic and pathologic processes. Recent studies have revealed that miRNAs are able to modulate different pathological process involved in atherotrombosis. Our working hypothesis is that the development of atherothrombosis is a chronic process that is associated with miRNA dysregulation, that is, altered miRNA expression profiles may be the cause of many of the abnormalities related to atherotrombosis. The aim of this project is to link miRNA dysregulation to pathophysiology of atherothrombosis, with the aim of characterizing novel biomarkers which could be used in the diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic setting.