title: The role of microRNAs in heart failure.
abstract: MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression by inhibiting mRNA translation and/or inducing mRNA degradation. In the past decade, many in vitro and in vivo studies have explored the involvement of microRNAs in various cardiovascular diseases. In this paper, studies focused upon the target genes and functionality of miRNAs in the pathophysiological processes of heart failure are reviewed. The selected miRNAs are categorized according to the biological relevance of their target genes in relation to four cardiovascular pathologies, namely angiogenesis, cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis and apoptosis. This review illustrates the involvement of miRNAs in different biological signaling pathways and provides an overview of current understanding of the roles of miRNAs in cardiovascular health and diseases. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Genetic and epigenetic control of heart failure - edited by Jun Ren & Megan Yingmei Zhang.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China. Electronic address: wanghongjiang@126.com.
authors.forename: Hongjiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease of China, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases of China, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Hypertension Center, Fuwai Hospital, Xicheng District, North Lishi Road No. 167, Beijing 100037, China. Electronic address: caijun@fuwaihospital.org.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Angiogenesis; Apoptosis; Fibrosis; Heart failure; Hypertrophy; MicroRNA