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MicroRNAs in Organogenesis and Disease

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Large numbers and quantities of different, small RNA molecules are present in the cytoplasm of animal and plant cells. One subclass of these molecules is represented by the noncoding microRNAs. Since their discovery in the 1990s a multitude of basic information has accumulated, which has identified their function in post-transcriptional control, either via degradation or translational inhibition of target mRNAs. This function is in most of the cases a finetuning of gene expression, working in parallel with transcriptional regulatory processes. MicroRNA expression profiles are highly dynamic during embryonic development and in adulthood. Misexpression of microRNAs can perturb embryogenesis, organogenesis, tissue homeostasis and the cell cycle. Evidence from gain- and loss-of function studies indicates roles for microRNAs in pathophysiologic states including cardiac hypertrophy, muscle dystrophy, hepatitis infection, diabetes, Parkinson syndrome, hematological malignancies and other types of cancer. In this review, we focus on studies addressing the role of various microRNAs in heart, muscle, liver, pancreas, central nervous system, and hematopoiesis.
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... 2 Small molecules refer to some relatively small organic molecules, including compounds and metabolites. 3 A wealth of research has demonstrated the critical role that miRNA plays in numerous aspects of human life, such as gene expression regulation, 4 cell-cycle control, 5 development and organogenesis, 6 immune response regulation, 7 metabolic control, 8 and even the initiation and progression of tumors. 9 It is precisely because of the key role of miRNA in the human body that more and more researchers are devoting themselves to the invention of miRNA-targeted drugs. ...
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... Yao et al., 2019), cellular proliferation (Hayashita et al., 2005), metabolism (Ye et al., 2018), homeostasis (Fernandez-Hernando & Suarez, 2018), differentiation (S. Yao, 2016), organogenesis, and development (Asli et al., 2008). Therefore, dysregulation of miRNAs induces various clinically important human diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disease, and cardiovascular diseases (Colpaert & Calore, 2019;Esquela-Kerscher & Slack, 2006). ...
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