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Murine Spinotrapezius Model to Assess the Impact of Arteriolar Ligation on Microvascular Function and Remodeling
Published on: March 3, 2013
Arterial remodeling and atherosclerosis: miRNAs involvement
Manuela Quintavalle1, Gianluigi Condorelli, Leonardo Elia
1Istituto Clinico Humanitas, IRCCS, Via Manzoni 113, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
Insights
Cardiometabolic diseases remain a major health concern. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key regulators in cardiovascular biology and atherosclerosis, offering potential new therapeutic targets to address residual risk.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Molecular Genetics
- Genomics
Background:
- Cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension, are leading causes of mortality and disability.
- Despite advancements in lifestyle programs and therapies, a significant residual risk of CMD events persists.
- Genetics and genomics offer new avenues to understand CMD, identify at-risk individuals, and discover novel therapeutic targets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in understanding the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in arterial remodeling and atherosclerosis.
- To highlight the potential of miRNAs as therapeutic targets for cardiometabolic diseases.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent scientific literature on microRNAs, arterial remodeling, and atherosclerosis.
- Bioinformatics analysis predicting miRNA targets and their biological roles.
Main Results:
- MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate protein expression.
- miRNAs are predicted to influence numerous biological pathways, including those in the cardiovascular system.
- Emerging evidence underscores the fundamental importance of miRNAs in vascular biology and their involvement in atherosclerosis.
Conclusions:
- MicroRNAs play a critical role in arterial remodeling and the development of atherosclerosis.
- Further research into miRNAs may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for managing cardiometabolic diseases and reducing residual risk.
Abstract:
Cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) (such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension) are the primary cause of death and disability in the Western world. Although lifestyle programs and therapeutic approaches have significantly reduced the socio-economic burden of CMD, a large number of events still cannot be avoided (the so called residual risk). Recent developments in genetics and genomics provide a platform for investigating further this area with the aim of deepening our understanding of the atherosclerotic phenomena underlying CMD, for instance by providing better information on the type of subjects who would benefit the most from therapeutic interventions, or by discovering new genetic and metabolic derangements that may be targeted for the development of new interventions. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are short, non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of proteins by binding to specific sequences on the 3' region of target mRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis predicts that each miRNA may regulate hundreds of targets, suggesting that miRNAs may play roles in almost every biological pathway and process, including those of the cardiovascular system. Studies are beginning to unravel their fundamental importance in vessel biology. Here, we review recent advance regarding the involvement of miRNAs in arterial remodeling and atherosclerosis.
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