Szabo Gyongyi, Csak Timea
Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, LRB215, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, 1 Brookdale Plaza, Brooklyn, NY, 11212, USA.
Dig Dis Sci. 2016 May;61(5):1314-24. doi: 10.1007/s10620-015-4002-4. Epub 2016 Jan 14.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, small, 18-25 nucleotide, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Each miRNA can regulate hundreds of target genes, and vice versa each target gene can be regulated by numerous miRNAs, suggesting a very complex network and explaining how miRNAs play pivotal roles in fine-tuning essentially all biological processes in all cell types in the liver. Here, we summarize the current knowledge on the role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with an outlook to the broader aspects of metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, we discuss the role of miRNAs as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in NAFLD/NASH.
微小RNA（miRNA）是高度保守的、小的、18 - 25个核苷酸的非编码RNA，它们在转录后水平调节基因表达。每个miRNA可以调节数百个靶基因，反之，每个靶基因也可以被众多miRNA调节，这表明存在一个非常复杂的网络，也解释了miRNA如何在微调肝脏中所有细胞类型的基本上所有生物学过程中发挥关键作用。在这里，我们总结了关于miRNA在非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）和非酒精性脂肪性肝炎（NASH）的发病机制和诊断中的作用的当前知识，并展望了代谢综合征更广泛的方面。此外，我们讨论了miRNA作为NAFLD/NASH潜在生物标志物和治疗靶点的作用。
