Drug repurposing and therapeutic anti-microRNA predictions for inhibition of oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced vascular smooth muscle cell-associated diseases.

Drug repurposing is a new method for disease treatments, which accelerates the identification of new uses for existing drugs with minimal side effects for patients. MicroRNA-based therapeutics are a class of drugs that have been used in gene therapy following the FDA's approval of the first anti-sense therapy. This study examines the effects of oxLDL on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and identifies potential drugs and antimiRs for treating VSMC-associated diseases.

Identify potential drugs for cardiovascular diseases caused by stress-induced genes in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Background: Abnormal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Many studies suggest that vascular injury triggers VSMC dedifferentiation, which results in VSMC changes from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear.

Methods: In this study, we examined how VSMC responds under mechanical stress by using time-course microarray data.