MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of endogenous, small, noncoding

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of endogenous, small, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression. hypertension, ischemic heart disease, valvular diseases, and endocrine disorders. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of endogenous, small, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression.1,2,3 Mature miRNAs are the result of sequential processing of primary transcripts (pri-miRNAs) mediated by two RNase III enzymes, Drosha and Dicer.4 Mature 18- to 24-nucleotides-long miRNAs negatively regulate protein expression of specific mRNA BI-D1870 IC50 by either translational inhibition or mRNA degradation.5 Currently, more than 400 miRNAs have been cloned and sequenced Rabbit Polyclonal to Bax in humans, and the estimated number of miRNA genes is as high as 1000 in the human genome.6,7 As a group, miRNAs are estimated to regulate 30% of the genes of the human genome.8 Analogous to the first RNA revolution in the 1980s with Zaug and Cech9 discovering the enzymatic activity of BI-D1870 IC50 RNA, this recent discovery of RNAi and miRNA may represent the second RNA revolution.10 Large scale cDNA sequencing and genome tiling array studies have shown that 50% of genomic DNA in humans is transcribed, of which 2% is translated into proteins and the remaining 98% is noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). The term ncRNA is commonly used for RNA that does not encode a protein, but this does not mean that such RNAs do not contain information or have function.11 Indeed, Zaug and Cech9 first reported the enzymatic activity of RNA in the 1980s. More excitingly, with the obtaining of RNAi technology,12 two regulatory small ncRNAs were discovered, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and miRNAs.1,13,14 siRNAs and miRNAs have a similar mechanism for gene expression regulation; however, they are different from each other.13,14 The chief difference lies in their origins.14,15 siRNAs are produced from long BI-D1870 IC50 double-stranded (bimolecular) RNAs or long hairpins, often of exogenous origin, and usually target sequences at the same locus or elsewhere in the genome for destruction (gene silencing),16,17 the phenomenon termed RNAi.12 In contrast, miRNAs are endogenous. They are encoded within the genome and come from endogenous short hairpin precursors and usually target sequences at other loci. Therefore, miRNAs are more important because they are endogenous regulators for gene expression. We are just beginning to understand how this novel class of gene regulators is usually involved in biological functions. Although only a small number of the hundreds of identified miRNAs have been characterized, a growing body of exciting evidence suggests that miRNAs are important regulators for cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis.14,18,19 Therefore, miRNAs may be important for normal development and physiology. Consequently, dysregulation of miRNA function may lead to human diseases.20 In this respect, the most exciting research area is the role of miRNAs in cancer, given that cell dedifferentiation, growth, and apoptosis are important cellular events in the development of cancer. Indeed, both basic and clinical studies have exhibited that miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in diverse cancers.21,22,23,24 miRNAs are currently thought to function as both tumor suppressors and oncogenes.25 Cardiovascular disease has long been the leading cause of death in developed countries, and it is rapidly becoming the number one killer in developing countries.26 Cardiac hypertrophy, the normal pathological response to a genuine amount of cardiovascular illnesses such as for example hypertension, ischemic cardiovascular disease, valvular illnesses, and endocrine disorders, can be a significant determinant of morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular illnesses. Although miRNAs are indicated in the center extremely, the roles of the miRNAs in cardiovascular illnesses including cardiac hypertrophy remain unclear.20,27 Because cardiac cell development (hypertrophy) may be the essential cellular event in the forming of cardiac hypertrophy, we therefore hypothesized that manifestation of miRNAs in hypertrophic center may be not the same as that in regular center and these aberrantly expressed miRNAs might play important tasks in cardiac hypertrophy..