Yu Xin, Zheng Heyi, Chan Matthew Tv, Wu William Ka Kei
Department of Dermatology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical CollegeBeijing 100042, China.
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, China.
Am J Transl Res. 2017 Sep 15;9(9):3896-3903. eCollection 2017.
Cataract is the most common cause of blindness worldwide. Multiple factors such as aging, eye injury, diabetes mellitus, ultraviolet exposure, drug use and other ocular diseases are etiologically linked to cataractogenesis. Due to a rapid increase in aging population, age-related cataract has become the leading cause of blindness. Therefore, it is urgent to understand the molecular mechanism underlying cataractogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of endogenous, small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-translational level through binding with the 3'-untranslated regions of target mRNAs. Studies have shown that miRNAs play important roles in multiple cellular functions, including apoptosis, cell proliferation, senescence and stress response. Deregulated expression of miRNAs is also linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases, including ocular diseases. In our review, we focus on miRNAs that are involved in cataract development and discuss their potential applications as novel diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets.
白内障是全球范围内导致失明的最常见原因。衰老、眼外伤、糖尿病、紫外线照射、药物使用以及其他眼部疾病等多种因素在病因上与白内障的发生相关。由于老龄人口迅速增加，年龄相关性白内障已成为失明的主要原因。因此，迫切需要了解白内障发生的分子机制。微小RNA（miRNA）是一类内源性的小非编码RNA，通过与靶mRNA的3'非翻译区结合在翻译后水平调节基因表达。研究表明，miRNA在多种细胞功能中发挥重要作用，包括细胞凋亡、细胞增殖、衰老和应激反应。miRNA表达失调也与许多疾病的发病机制有关，包括眼部疾病。在我们的综述中，我们聚焦于参与白内障发生发展的miRNA，并讨论它们作为新型诊断标志物和治疗靶点的潜在应用。
