title: MicroRNAs in opioid pharmacology.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNA), a class of ~22-nucleotide RNA molecules, are important gene regulators that bind to the target sites of mRNAs to inhibit the gene expressions either through translational inhibition or mRNA destabilization. There are growing evidences that miRNAs have played several regulatory roles in opioid pharmacology. Like other research fields such as cancer biology, the area where numerous miRNAs are found to be involved in gene regulation, we assume that in opioid studies including research fields of drug additions and opioid receptor regulation, there may be more miRNAs waiting to be discovered. This review will summarize our current knowledge of miRNA functions on opioids biology and briefly describe future research directions of miRNAs related to opioids.
authors: Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. hwang025@umn.edu
authors: Cheol Kyu
authors: CK
authors: Hwang
authors: Yadav
authors: Y
authors: Wagley
authors: Ping-Yee
authors: PY
authors: Law
authors: Li-Na
authors: LN
authors: Wei
authors: Horace H
authors: HH
authors: Loh
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D035683:MicroRNAs