title: Let-7 in cardiovascular diseases, heart development and cardiovascular differentiation from stem cells.
abstract: The let-7 family is the second microRNA found in C. elegans. Recent researches have found it is highly expressed in the cardiovascular system. Studies have revealed the aberrant expression of let-7 members in cardiovascular diseases, such as heart hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), myocardial infarction (MI), arrhythmia, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. Let-7 also participates in cardiovascular differentiation of embryonic stem cells. TLR4, LOX-1, Bcl-xl and AGO1 are by now the identified target genes of let-7. The circulating let-7b is suspected to be the biomarker of acute MI and let-7i, the biomarker of DCM. Further studies are necessary for identifying the gene targets and signaling pathways of let-7 in cardiovascular diseases. Let-7 might be a potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases. This review focuses on the research progresses regarding the roles of let-7 in cardiovascular development and diseases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China. hhzhou@csu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mei-Hua
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Yi-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ya
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hong-Hao
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D006321:Heart / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; C487931:mirnlet7 microRNA, human