State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 2;25(11):6146. doi: 10.3390/ijms25116146.
Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of nucleotide sequences that cannot be translated into peptides. ncRNAs can function post-transcriptionally by splicing complementary sequences of mRNAs or other ncRNAs or by directly engaging in protein interactions. Over the past few decades, the pervasiveness of ncRNAs in cell physiology and their pivotal roles in various diseases have been identified. One target regulated by ncRNAs is connexin (Cx), a protein that forms gap junctions and hemichannels and facilitates intercellular molecule exchange. The aberrant expression and misdistribution of connexins have been implicated in central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, bone diseases, and cancer. Current databases and technologies have enabled researchers to identify the direct or indirect relationships between ncRNAs and connexins, thereby elucidating their correlation with diseases. In this review, we selected the literature published in the past five years concerning disorders regulated by ncRNAs via corresponding connexins. Among it, microRNAs that regulate the expression of Cx43 play a crucial role in disease development and are predominantly reviewed. The distinctive perspective of the ncRNA-Cx axis interprets pathology in an epigenetic manner and is expected to motivate research for the development of biomarkers and therapeutics.
非编码 RNA（ncRNAs）是一类不能被翻译成肽的核苷酸序列。ncRNAs 可以通过剪接 mRNA 或其他 ncRNAs 的互补序列，或通过直接参与蛋白质相互作用，从而发挥转录后功能。在过去的几十年中，人们已经认识到 ncRNAs 在细胞生理学中的普遍性及其在各种疾病中的关键作用。ncRNAs 调控的一个靶标是连接蛋白（Cx），它形成间隙连接和半通道，促进细胞间分子交换。连接蛋白的异常表达和分布异常与中枢神经系统疾病、心血管疾病、骨骼疾病和癌症有关。目前的数据库和技术使研究人员能够识别 ncRNAs 与连接蛋白之间的直接或间接关系，从而阐明它们与疾病的相关性。在这篇综述中，我们选择了过去五年中发表的关于 ncRNAs 通过相应的连接蛋白调节疾病的文献。其中，miRNA 通过调节 Cx43 的表达在疾病发展中起着至关重要的作用，因此我们主要对其进行了综述。ncRNA-连接蛋白轴的独特视角以表观遗传的方式解释病理学，有望激发用于开发生物标志物和治疗方法的研究。
