title: Activation of common signaling pathways during remodeling of the heart and the bladder.
abstract: The heart and the urinary bladder are hollow muscular organs, which can be afflicted by pressure overload injury due to pathological conditions such as hypertension and bladder outlet obstruction. This increased outflow resistance induces hypertrophy, marked by dramatic changes in the organs' phenotype and function. The end result in both the heart and the bladder can be acute organ failure due to advanced fibrosis and the subsequent loss of contractility. There is emerging evidence that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of heart failure and bladder dysfunction. MiRNAs are endogenous non-coding single-stranded RNAs, which regulate gene expression and control adaptive and maladaptive organ remodeling processes. This Review summarizes the current knowledge of molecular alterations in the heart and the bladder and highlights common signaling pathways and regulatory events. The miRNA expression analysis and experimental target validation done in the heart provide a valuable source of information for investigators working on the bladder and other organs undergoing the process of fibrotic remodeling. Aberrantly expressed miRNA are amendable to pharmacological manipulation, offering an opportunity for development of new therapies for cardiac and bladder hypertrophy and failure.
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Laboratory, Department Clinical Research, University of Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ivonne
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fiona C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Burkhard
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Laboratory, Department Clinical Research, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Urology, University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: monastyk@dkf.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Monastyrskaya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006321:Heart; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Bladder; Fibrosis; Gene expression; Heart; Obstruction; Pressure overload; Signaling; miRNA