Predictive value of plasma miR-217 expression in endothelial senescence

We have generated a conditional mouse model to overexpress in the endothelium miR-217, a microRNA whose expression is increased i n aged endothelial cells and in human atheroma plaques. Using this gain-of function approach we have found that miR-217 expression is deleterious for endothelial function in vivo, as we found that over-expressing miR-217 in the endothelium leads to i) an impaired contractibility, ii)an enhanced susceptibility to atherosclerosis development, iii) hypeitension and iv) the development of cardiac diastolic
and systolic dysfunctions . We have found that the increased levels of miR-217 in endothelium are associated to an increased expression in serum, as we found that our endothelium-specific miR217 overexpression model has increased Ievels of miR-217 in plasma. We want to assess if the expression of miR-217 is increased in the plasma of elderly (nonagenarian) individuals with an aged endothelium. We hypothesize that the expression of miR-217 could serve as a marker of endothelial dysfunction and senescent endothelium