title: Overview of MicroRNAs in Cardiac Hypertrophy, Fibrosis, and Apoptosis.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that play essential roles in modulating the gene expression in almost all biological events. In the past decade, the involvement of miRNAs in various cardiovascular disorders has been explored in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies. In this paper, studies focused upon the discovery of miRNAs, their target genes, and functionality are reviewed. The selected miRNAs discussed herein have regulatory effects on target gene expression as demonstrated by miRNA/3' end untranslated region (3'UTR) interaction assay and/or gain/loss-of-function approaches. The listed miRNA entities are categorized according to the biological relevance of their target genes in relation to three cardiovascular pathologies, namely cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and apoptosis. Furthermore, comparison across 86 studies identified several candidate miRNAs that might be of particular importance in the ontogenesis of cardiovascular diseases as they modulate the expression of clusters of target genes involved in the progression of multiple adverse cardiovascular events. This review illustrates the involvement of miRNAs in diverse biological signaling pathways and provides an overview of current understanding of, and progress of research into, of the roles of miRNAs in cardiovascular health and disease.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore. mdcwaju@nus.edu.sg.|Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore. mdcwaju@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore. mdclow@nus.edu.sg.|Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore. mdclow@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Oi Wah
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore. arthur_mark_richards@nuhs.edu.sg.|Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore. arthur_mark_richards@nuhs.edu.sg.|Cardiac Department, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore. arthur_mark_richards@nuhs.edu.sg.|Christchurch Heart Institute, University of Otago, Christchurch 8014, New Zealand. arthur_mark_richards@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Arthur Mark
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore. mdccyt@nus.edu.sg.|Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore. mdccyt@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Yei-Tsung
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000235:genetics*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005355:Fibrosis; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: apoptosis; fibrosis; hypertrophy; microRNA