Farid Waqar R R, Verhoeven Cornelia J, de Jonge Jeroen, Metselaar Herold J, Kazemier Geert, van der Laan Luc J W
Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC - University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Transpl Int. 2014 Dec;27(12):1222-32. doi: 10.1111/tri.12379. Epub 2014 Sep 29.
Ongoing research is being conducted in the field of transplantation to discover novel, noninvasive biomarkers for assessment of graft quality before transplantation and monitoring of graft injury after transplantation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are among the most promising in this field. MiRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that function as important regulators of gene expression in response to cellular stress and disease. An advantage that makes miRNAs attractive candidates for biomarker research is their fast release from cells in response to stress and injury, which can occur via different routes. In the context of liver transplantation (LT), noninvasive measurement and stability of extracellular miRNAs in blood, bile, and graft perfusates has been linked to cell-type specific injury and early graft outcome following LT. Furthermore, specific intrahepatic miRNA expression patterns have been associated with graft survival and recurrent disease, like hepatitis C virus-related fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, miRNAs with strong predictive value and high sensitivity and specificity might be successfully applied to assess hepatic injury and to diagnose (recurrent) liver disease before, during and after LT. In this review, the current features and future prospects of miRNAs as biomarkers in and out of the liver are discussed.
移植领域正在进行研究，以发现新型非侵入性生物标志物，用于评估移植前的移植物质量以及监测移植后的移植物损伤。微小RNA（miRNA）是该领域最具潜力的生物标志物之一。miRNA是小的非编码RNA，在细胞应激和疾病反应中作为基因表达的重要调节因子发挥作用。miRNA成为生物标志物研究有吸引力的候选者的一个优势是，它们在应激和损伤时能通过不同途径从细胞中快速释放。在肝移植（LT）中，血液、胆汁和移植物灌注液中细胞外miRNA的非侵入性测量及其稳定性与LT后的细胞类型特异性损伤和早期移植物转归有关。此外，特定的肝内miRNA表达模式与移植物存活和复发性疾病相关，如丙型肝炎病毒相关纤维化和肝细胞癌。因此，具有强预测价值以及高灵敏度和特异性的miRNA可能成功应用于评估肝损伤以及在LT前、中、后诊断（复发性）肝病。在这篇综述中，将讨论miRNA作为肝脏内外生物标志物的当前特征和未来前景。
