Liver microRNAs: potential mediators and biomarkers for metabolic and cardiovascular disease?
Recent discoveries have revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in the regulation of gene expression. In this review, we summarize the rapidly evolving knowledge about liver miRNAs (including miR-33, -33*, miR-223, -30c, -144, -148a, -24, -29, and -122) and their link to hepatic lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes. With regards to its biomarker potential, the main focus is on miR-122 as the most abundant liver miRNA with exquisite tissue specificity. MiR-122 has been proposed to play a central role in the maintenance of lipid and glucose homeostasis and is consistently detectable in serum and plasma. This miRNA may therefore constitute a novel biomarker for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
King's British Heart Foundation Centre, King's College London, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.|Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Peter
P
Willeit
King's British Heart Foundation Centre, King's College London, London, UK.
Philipp
P
Skroblin
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Stefan
S
Kiechl
Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Carlos
C
Fernández-Hernando
King's British Heart Foundation Centre, King's College London, London, UK manuel.mayr@kcl.ac.uk.
Manuel
M
Mayr
D015415:Biomarkers; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome; D035683:MicroRNAs
D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs
Biomarkers; Cardiovascular disease; Lipid metabolism; MicroRNAs