title: Targeting of microRNAs for therapeutics.
abstract: miRNAs (microRNAs) comprise a class of small endogenous non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally repress gene expression by base-pairing with their target mRNAs. Recent evidence has shown that miRNAs play important roles in a wide variety of human diseases, such as viral infections, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and thus miRNAs have rapidly emerged as potential targets for therapeutics. LNAs (locked nucleic acids) comprise a class of bicyclic conformational analogues of RNA, which exhibit high binding affinity to complementary RNA molecules and high stability in blood and tissues in vivo. Recent reports on LNA-mediated miRNA silencing in rodents and primates support the potential of LNA-modified oligonucleotides in studying miRNA functions in vivo and in the future development of miRNA-based therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Santaris Pharma, Hørsholm, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stenvang
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindow
authors.forename: Sakari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kauppinen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D011323:Primates
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D009841:Oligonucleotides; C477371:locked nucleic acid