Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Department of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
J Cell Physiol. 2019 Mar;234(3):2194-2203. doi: 10.1002/jcp.27069. Epub 2018 Sep 19.
Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) were initially thought to be transcriptional byproducts. However, recent advances of ncRNAs research have increased our understanding of the importance of ncRNA in gene regulation and disease pathogenesis. Consistent with these developments, liver fibrosis research is also experiencing rapid growth in the investigation of links between ncRNAs and the pathology of this disease. The initial focus was on studying the function and regulation mechanisms of microRNAs (miRNAs). However, recently, elucidation of the mechanisms of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and lncRNA-mediated liver fibrosis has just commenced. In this review, we emphasize on abnormal expression of lncRNAs in liver fibrosis. Furthermore, we also discuss that the interaction of lncRNAs with miRNAs is involved in the regulation of the expression of protein-coding genes in liver fibrosis. Recent advances in understanding dysregulated lncRNAs expression and the lncRNAs-miRNAs interaction in liver fibrosis will help for developing new therapeutic targets and biomarkers of liver fibrosis.
非编码 RNA（ncRNAs）最初被认为是转录的副产物。然而，最近 ncRNAs 研究的进展增加了我们对 ncRNA 在基因调控和疾病发病机制中的重要性的理解。与这些发展相一致，肝纤维化研究也在迅速发展，研究 ncRNAs 与这种疾病的病理学之间的联系。最初的重点是研究 microRNAs（miRNAs）的功能和调节机制。然而，最近，长非编码 RNA（lncRNAs）的机制和 lncRNA 介导的肝纤维化的阐明才刚刚开始。在这篇综述中，我们强调了 lncRNAs 在肝纤维化中的异常表达。此外，我们还讨论了 lncRNAs 与 miRNAs 的相互作用参与了肝纤维化中蛋白编码基因的表达调控。对失调的 lncRNAs 表达和 lncRNAs-miRNAs 相互作用在肝纤维化中的理解的最新进展将有助于开发肝纤维化的新治疗靶点和生物标志物。
