A research team lead by Professor Xiang Zhou from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (NMU) recently published a paper entitled “Extrachromosomal Circular DNA MIRECD Enhances Necroptosis and Predicts Prognosis of Myocardial Infarction” in the journal Research. For the first time, the study identified an extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA), named MIRECD, that is highly expressed in the plasma of patients with myocardial infarction. The findings revealed that this eccDNA is closely associated with the necroptosis of myocardial cells, opening up new avenues for the potential application of eccDNA in cardiovascular diseases.
Myocardial infarction remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, underscoring the importance of accurate assessment of prognosis and the development of personalized treatment strategies. Although eccDNA has demonstrated potential in various diseases, its specific role in myocardial infarction has not been fully understood. Utilizing high-throughput Circle-Seq technology, the researchers discovered significantly elevated MIRECD levels in the plasma of patients with acute myocardial infarction. Further cellular experiments revealed that MIRECD facilitates the necroptosis of myocardial cells by regulating MLKL, thereby exacerbating myocardial injury.
Moreover, a prospective cohort study confirmed that elevated MIRECD levels significantly heighten the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and cardiovascular mortality. Importantly, MIRECD was identified as an independent predictor of MACE in patients with acute myocardial infarction.These findings provide a solid theoretical foundation for the application of eccDNA in cardiovascular disease and offer valuable insights for risk stratification and clinical management of myocardial infarction.
Professor Xiang Zhou is the corresponding author, and Dr. Yiheng Zhao is the first author of this paper, both from the Second Affiliated Hospital of NMU. The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Original article link: https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/research.0803
(Drafted by Professor Xiang Zhou’s research group; Reviewed by Baixin Shen and Jieyun Wang; Translation revised by Bei Zhang )
