miR-146a; A Potential Link Connecting Shear Stress-Induced Activation of Osteopontin & TLR-4 Pathways

Objective: Our preliminary studies showed increased levels of Osteopontin (OPN), a shear-sensitive matricellular protein that promotes vascular inflammation, along with its receptor alphaV-Beta3 and downstream TRAF6, in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells (HAECs) subjected to oscillatory shear-stress (OSS) versus unidirectional shear stress (USS) control conditions. The goal of our work is to evaluate whether the over-expression of miR-146a can modulate OSS-induced expression levels of OPN and associated TLR-4 downstream signaling pathways.