MicroRNAs: Biomarkers, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs (21-23 nucleotides in length) that regulate gene expression at translational or posttranslational levels. The major regulatory mechanisms include translational repression or mRNA degradation (Filipowicz et al., Curr Opin Struct Biol 15:331-341, 2005).Aberrant expression of miRNAs has been found to be associated with a variety of human diseases such as cancers/tumors, diabetes, viral infections, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and other diseases (Wang et al., J Cell Physiol 23:25-30, 2016; Lawrie, MicroRNAs in medicine, 2013). The expression of miRNAs is tissue specific and can be used to identify tumor type and its origin (Mishra and Merlino, J Clin Invest 119:2119-2123, 2009). Many investigations suggest that the miRNA-expression profiles are novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for multiple human diseases. Manipulating relevant miRNA expression or function may serve as potential therapeutic strategies for different diseases.