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Molecular therapy in the microRNA era

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 7, pages 297–304 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) consist of a growing class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that negatively regulate the expression of genes involved in development, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and other important cellular processes. miRNAs are usually 18–25 nt long and are each able to regulate several mRNAs by mechanisms such as incomplete base pairing and Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS). A growing number of reports have shown that aberrant miRNA expression is a common feature of human diseases including cancer, which has sparked interest in targeting these regulators of gene expression as a means of ameliorating these diseases. Here, we review important aspects of miRNA function in normal and pathological states and discuss new modalities of epigenetic intervention strategies that could be used to amend defects in miRNA/mRNA interactions.

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Abbreviations

AMOs:

anti-miRNA oligonucleotides

CMV:

Cytomegalovirus

hAT1R:

Angiotensin II Type 1 receptor

HDAC4:

Histone deacetylase 4

LNAs:

Locked nucleic acid anti-sense oligonucleotides

miRNAs:

microRNAs

ncRNAs:

non-coding RNAs

pre-miRNAs:

precursor miRNAs

pri-miRNAs:

primary miRNAs

PTGS:

Post-Trancriptional Gene Silencing

RISC:

RNA Induced Silencing Complex

RNAi:

RNA interference

SRF:

Serum Response Factor

shRNAs:

short hairpin RNAs

siRNAs:

small interfering RNAs

UTR:

Untranslated Region

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Xandra O Breakefield, Dr Casey A Maguire, Dr Anna M Krichevsky and Dr Newton V Verbisck for critically reading this manuscript and for helpful suggestions. We also thank Suzanne McDavitt for helping with the manuscript format.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston/Charlestown, MA, USA

    T Wurdinger & F F Costa

  2. Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston/Charlestown, MA, USA

    T Wurdinger

  3. Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program, Children's Memorial Research Center and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, 2300 Children's Plaza, Chicago, IL, USA

    F F Costa

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Correspondence to T Wurdinger or F F Costa.

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Wurdinger, T., Costa, F. Molecular therapy in the microRNA era. Pharmacogenomics J 7, 297–304 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500429

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