Molasy Milena, Walczak Anna, Szaflik Jerzy, Szaflik Jacek P, Majsterek Ireneusz
Department of Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
Department of Ophthalmology, SPKSO Ophthalmic Hospital, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
J Hum Genet. 2017 Jan;62(1):105-112. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2016.91. Epub 2016 Jul 14.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a class of short, non-coding RNAs, which have important role in post-transcriptional regulation of genes expression by base-pairing with their target messenger RNA (mRNA). In recent years, miRNAs biogenesis, gene silencing mechanism and implication in various diseases have been thoroughly investigated. Many scientific findings indicate the altered expression of specific miRNA in the brains of patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington disease. The progressive optic nerve neuropathy associated with changed miRNA profile was also observed during glaucoma development. This suggests that the miRNAs may have a crucial role in these disorders, contributing to the neuronal cell death. A better understanding of molecular mechanism of these disorders will open a new potential way of ND treatment. In this review, the miRNAs role in particular neurodegenerative disorders and their possible application in medicine was discussed.
微小RNA（miRNA）是一类短链非编码RNA，通过与靶信使核糖核酸（mRNA）碱基配对在基因表达的转录后调控中发挥重要作用。近年来，对miRNA的生物合成、基因沉默机制及其在各种疾病中的作用进行了深入研究。许多科学发现表明，在患有神经退行性疾病（NDs）如阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病和亨廷顿病的患者大脑中，特定miRNA的表达发生了改变。在青光眼发展过程中也观察到与miRNA谱改变相关的进行性视神经病变。这表明miRNA可能在这些疾病中起关键作用，导致神经元细胞死亡。更好地理解这些疾病的分子机制将为神经退行性疾病的治疗开辟一条新的潜在途径。在这篇综述中，讨论了miRNA在特定神经退行性疾病中的作用及其在医学中的可能应用。
