Therapeutic delivery of microRNA-125a-5p oligonucleotides improves recovery from myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice and swine.

Clinical application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) to alleviate myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is compromised by the low cell engraftment rate and uncontrolled exosomal content. As one of their active ingredients, single-component microRNA therapy may have more inherent advantages. We sought to find an ideal microRNA candidate and determine whether it could reproduce the cardioprotective effects of MSCs and MSC-Exos.