title: MicroRNA and diseases: therapeutic potential as new generation of drugs.
abstract: MicroRNA (miRNA) is a small non-coding regulatory RNA of 21-25 nucleotides (nts) in length. miRNA works as a post-transcriptional regulator of a specific mRNA by inducing degradation or translation repression resulting in gene silencing. A large number of miRNA have been reported and many more are yet to be discovered. Aberrant expression of miRNA has been linked to numerous diseases. Attempts have been made to attenuate miRNA misregulation under pathophysiological conditions. Additionally, the potential use of miRNA in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases has been studied. Several preclinical and clinical results have been obtained, and miRNA-based therapeutics are still under investigations. In this review, the role of miRNA in a variety of pathological conditions has been summarized. Recent findings from preclinical and clinical investigations examining the role of miRNA as diagnostic markers, and their potential as drug candidates, are also highlighted. The current results summarized in this review may elucidate new dimensions of miRNA therapeutic and diagnostic techniques for biomedical academic and industry research.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Program, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Electronic address: fazliwahid@ciit.net.pk.
authors.forename: Fazli
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wahid
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Electronic address: taouskhan@ciit.net.pk.
authors.forename: Taous
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Taegu 702-701, South Korea. Electronic address: yykim@knu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: You Young
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D013812:Therapeutics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: miRNA drug candidates; miRNA functions; miRNA in diagnosis; miRNA misregulation; miRNA therapeutics