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ResearchIn-Press PreviewMetabolismVascular biology Open Access | 10.1172/jci.insight.201311

BAT-derived miR-378a-3p facilitates endothelial angiogenic function and promotes wound healing

Hongyan Deng,1 Yuyu Xie,1 Jiadai Liu,1 Jing Ge,1 Qianqian Kang,2 Rui He,1 Zhihan Wang,1 Xuemin Peng,1 Zengzhe Zhu,1 Wenshe Wang,1 Yulian Liu,1 Ronghui Gao,1 Ruping Pan,2 Min Yang,3 and Yong Chen1

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Deng, H. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Xie, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Liu, J. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Ge, J. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Kang, Q. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by He, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Wang, Z. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Peng, X. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Zhu, Z. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Wang, W. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Liu, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Gao, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Pan, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Yang, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

3Department of Endocrinology, Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Find articles by Chen, Y. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published April 21, 2026 - More info

JCI Insight. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.201311.
Copyright © 2026, Deng et al. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Published April 21, 2026 - Version history
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Abstract

Interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT), one of the most vascularized tissues in the body, exemplifies the intricate crosstalk between the vascular system and adipocytes. BAT is known to secrete abundant exosomes into circulation, while exosomes are known to play a key role in vascular remodeling and cell migration. However, whether BAT-derived exosomes (BATexos) modulate peripheral vasculature remains unclear. Here, we report that BATexos promoted peripheral angiogenesis and vascular repair. Among their cargo, miR-378a-3p was highly enriched and identified as a key mediator of endothelial angiogenic function. The overexpression of miR-378a-3p in endothelial cells substantially promoted cell migration and tube formation. Conversely, inhibition of exosome secretion from BAT impaired vascular repair and delayed wound healing. Mechanistically, miR-378a-3p directly targeted the phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten), thereby activating the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Liposomes encapsulating miR-378 mimics promoted angiogenesis and accelerated wound healing in a diabetic mouse model. Collectively, this study uncovers BAT-derived miR-378a-3p as a key regulator of vessel regeneration and tissue repair following injury, offering new therapeutic potential for treating vascular complications in metabolic disease.

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