# Plasma exosomal miR-142-3p induced by acupuncture protects against heart injury in rats with myocardial infarction by targeting Cofilin 2

## TL;DR

Acupuncture protects the heart after injury in rats by using plasma exosomes to deliver miR-142-3p, which targets Cofilin 2 to reduce heart tissue damage.

## Contribution

Identifies miR-142-3p as a key exosomal miRNA in acupuncture's cardioprotective mechanism by targeting Cofilin 2.

## Key findings

- Acupuncture's heart-protective effects are reversed by GW4869, indicating exosome involvement.
- miR-142-3p is upregulated in myocardial tissue and reduces oxidative damage by suppressing apoptosis.
- miR-142-3p directly targets and suppresses Cofilin 2 (CFL2) expression in heart tissue.

## Abstract

The protective effects of acupuncture on myocardial injury have been identified in clinical trials. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of its fundamental mechanism. This research aimed to clarify the roles of plasma exosomes in the cardioprotection of acupuncture.

Myocardial infarcted rats were divided into control group, acupuncture group, and acupuncture plus GW4869 group. The rats without the performance of a myocardial infarction were divided into a sham group. Acupuncture was performed at bilateral PC6.

The results showed that the effects of acupuncture on increasing the thickness of the left ventricular infarct wall and inhibiting apoptosis of the damaged heart tissue were significantly reversed by GW4869. Among the five miRNAs of plasma exosomes increased by acupuncture, miR-142-3p was the unique miRNA up-regulated in myocardial tissue. Overexpressing miR-142-3p retarded oxidative damage of H9c2 by anti-apoptosis. miR-142-3p directly bound to and suppressed the expression of Cofilin 2 (CFL2). In vivo CFL2 expression was down-regulated by acupuncture and up-regulated by GW4869.

Our results suggest that plasma exosomes transfer cardio-protective signals of acupuncture to the injured heart and confer cardioprotective effects, and miR-142-3p emerges as a prominent exosomal miRNA in the inhibition of myocardial apoptosis by targeting CFL2.