title: miRNAs as new molecular insights into inflammatory bowel disease: Crucial regulators in autoimmunity and inflammation.
abstract: Inﬂammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic relapsing inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, and includes two major phenotypes: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The pathogenesis of IBD is not fully understood as of yet. It is believed that IBD results from complicated interactions between environmental factors, genetic predisposition, and immune disorders. miRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression by targeting the 3'-untranslated region of speciﬁc mRNAs for degradation or translational inhibition. miRNAs are considered to play crucial regulatory roles in many biologic processes, such as immune cellular differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, and maintenance of immune homeostasis. Recently, aberrant expression of miRNAs was revealed to play an important role in autoimmune diseases, including IBD. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of how miRNAs regulate autoimmunity and inflammation by affecting the differentiation, maturation, and function of various immune cells. In particular, we focus on describing specific miRNA expression profiles in tissues and peripheral blood that may be associated with the pathogenesis of IBD. In addition, we summarize the opportunities for utilizing miRNAs as new biomarkers and as potential therapeutic targets in IBD.
authors.affiliation: Xiao-Min Xu, Hong-Jie Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Xiao-Min Xu, Hong-Jie Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Jie
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Autoimmunity; Immune system; Inflammation; Inﬂammatory bowel disease; miRNA