Sakamoto Kenji, Asano Daiki, Morita Akane, Mori Asami, Nakahara Tsutomu
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Kitasato University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Laboratory of Medical Pharmacology, Department of Clinical & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharma-Sciences, Teikyo University.
Nihon Yakurigaku Zasshi. 2020;155(2):81-86. doi: 10.1254/fpj.19121.
Because visual information accounts for 80-90% of sensory information that we get from our circumstance, loss of vision seriously diminishes our quality of life. According to a recent epidemiological study, glaucoma is the first, and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the second leading causes of acquired blindness in Japan. Degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and photoreceptor cells causes glaucoma and RP, respectively. Intraocular pressure-lowering therapy is an only effective treatment for glaucoma, and the agents that protect RGC directly against glaucomatous injury have not been available yet. In addition, there is no effective treatment for RP at present. microRNAs are a class of small, endogenous, non-coding RNAs comprised of approximately 20 nucleotides. It has been clarified that microRNAs reduces the stability of the target mRNAs and/or repress the translation of the target genes. A single microRNA can affect the transcription of multiple mRNAs, and almost 30% of human genes are thought to be regulated by microRNAs. Therefore, it has been considered that the expression changes of microRNAs are possible to cause various diseases, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, the expression changes in microRNAs have been reported in the retina of experimental model animals for glaucoma and RP. The expressional changes of microRNAs are suggested to be related with development and progression of glaucoma and RP. Here, we will discuss about the relationship between the expressional changes of microRNAs and neuronal cell death in glaucoma and RP.
由于视觉信息占我们从周围环境中获取的感官信息的80%-90%，失明会严重降低我们的生活质量。根据最近的一项流行病学研究，青光眼是日本后天性失明的首要原因，色素性视网膜炎（RP）是第二大原因。视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）和光感受器细胞的退化分别导致青光眼和RP。降低眼压疗法是青光眼唯一有效的治疗方法，目前尚无直接保护RGC免受青光眼损伤的药物。此外，目前RP尚无有效的治疗方法。微小RNA是一类由大约20个核苷酸组成的小的内源性非编码RNA。已经明确微小RNA会降低靶mRNA的稳定性和/或抑制靶基因的翻译。单个微小RNA可以影响多个mRNA的转录，并且据认为几乎30%的人类基因受微小RNA调控。因此，人们认为微小RNA的表达变化可能导致各种疾病，如癌症和神经退行性疾病。最近，在青光眼和RP实验模型动物的视网膜中报道了微小RNA的表达变化。微小RNA的表达变化被认为与青光眼和RP的发生发展有关。在此，我们将讨论微小RNA的表达变化与青光眼和RP中神经元细胞死亡之间的关系。
