Construction of miRNA-mRNA network reveals crucial miRNAs and genes in acute myocardial infarction

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a severe cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to identify crucial microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs in AMI by establishing a miRNA-mRNA network. The microarray datasets GSE31568, GSE148153, and GSE66360 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We identified differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) and mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) in AMI samples compared with normal control samples. The consistently changing miRNAs in both GSE31568 and GSE148153 datasets were selected as candidate DE-miRNAs. The interactions between the candidate DE-miRNAs and DE-mRNAs were analyzed, and a miRNA-mRNA network and a protein-protein interaction network were constructed, along with functional enrichment and pathway analyses. A total of 209 DE-miRNAs in the GSE31568 dataset, 857 DE-miRNAs in the GSE148153 dataset, and 351 DE-mRNAs in the GSE66360 dataset were identified. Eighteen candidate DE-miRNAs were selected from both the GSE31568 and GSE148153 datasets. Furthermore, miR-646, miR-127-5p, miR-509-5p, miR-509-3-5p, and miR-767-5p were shown to have a higher degree in the miRNA-mRNA network. THBS-1 as well as FOS was a hub gene in the miRNA-mRNA network and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, respectively. CDKN1A was important in both miRNA-mRNA network and PPI network. We established a miRNA-mRNA network in AMI and identified five miRNAs and three genes, which might be used as biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for patients with AMI.