Institute of Molecular and Translational Therapeutic Strategies (IMTTS) and Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hanover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Sep;7(9):1528-33. doi: 10.2215/CJN.01170212. Epub 2012 May 10.
microRNAs are small, noncoding RNAs that control gene/protein expression through target messengerRNA degradation and/or inhibition of protein synthesis. An array of experimental studies has shown the importance of microRNAs for disease initiation/progression. microRNAs are generally considered to act as intracellular modulators of gene expression. However, first studies in the cancer and cardiovascular field have elucidated that microRNAs are remarkably stable in the extracellular compartment (e.g., in blood or urine). The detection and quantification of circulating microRNAs may, thus, represent a novel noninvasive tool to detect and monitor disease activity. In addition, there might be a potential biologic relevance of circulating microRNAs for cell/cell communication. The aim of the present article is to give an outline of recent work on circulating and urinary microRNAs as well as their potential paracrine activity in kidney disease.
microRNAs 是小的非编码 RNA，通过靶信使 RNA 的降解和/或蛋白质合成的抑制来控制基因/蛋白质表达。大量的实验研究表明了 microRNAs 在疾病的发生/进展中的重要性。microRNAs 通常被认为是细胞内基因表达的调节剂。然而，在癌症和心血管领域的初步研究表明，microRNAs 在细胞外区室（例如血液或尿液）中非常稳定。因此，检测和定量循环 microRNAs 可能代表了一种新的非侵入性检测和监测疾病活动的工具。此外，循环 microRNAs 对于细胞/细胞通讯可能具有潜在的生物学相关性。本文的目的是概述循环和尿 microRNAs 的最新研究及其在肾脏疾病中的潜在旁分泌活性。
