Long non-coding RNA H19 protects acute myocardial infarction through activating autophagy in mice

OBJECTIVE: We investigate the effect of long non-coding RNA H19 in acute myo- cardial infarction (AMI) and the underlying mech- anism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were subjected to AMI and injected with lenti- virus pcDNA-H19. After AMI procedures for 3 weeks, cardiac function was detected by echo- cardiography. The infarct size was stained by triphenyltetrazolium chloride. H19 expression in mice was measured by quantitative reverse tran- scriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Protein expressions of LC3, Beclin-1, and ATG-7 in mice were measured by Western blot. RESULTS: Our results indicated that H19 ex- pression was significantly downregulated in the infarcted myocardium. Overexpression of H19 after injection with pcDNA-H19 in mice could re- duce infarct size and improve cardiac function through upregulating the ratio of LC3-II/I and ex- pressions of Beclin-1 and ATG-7. CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of H19 could protect AMI in mice via activating autophagy.