Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a cerebrovascular condition characterized by progressive stenosis of intracranial arteries, leading to stroke. While MMD was long considered a genetic disorder, emerging evidence suggests autoimmune mechanisms may contribute to its pathogenesis. The role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the pathogenesis of MMD is under heated discussion, and a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network involving MMD-related ncRNAs has not been constructed. In this study, we integrated multiple bioinformatic analyses on transcriptomic data from the middle cerebral arteries of MMD patients and controls. Our analysis revealed a significant enrichment of innate immune system pathways, including antigen processing and macrophage activation, in MMD tissue. We constructed a robust ceRNA network centered on the long non-coding RNA MALAT1, identifying 15 core mRNA targets. A classifier built from these MALAT1-related genes accurately distinguished MMD patients from controls, with an area under the curve of 0.869 in independent validation. Furthermore, immune deconvolution analysis showed a marked increase in microvascular endothelial cells and a decrease in CD4+ memory T cells and regulatory T cells in MMD arteries. The expression of the MALAT1 network genes strongly correlated with these shifts in cellular composition, positively with endothelial cells and negatively with T cells. Our findings uncover a MALAT1-driven ceRNA network that links immune dysregulation to vascular changes in MMD, highlighting MALAT1 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target.
Liu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.