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Updated: Feb 17, 2026

Production, Characterization and Potential Uses of a 3D Tissue-engineered Human Esophageal Mucosal Model
Published on: May 18, 2015
Noncoding RNAs as drivers of the phenotypic plasticity of oesophageal mucosa
Matteo Fassan1, Sonia Facchin2, Giada Munari1
1Surgical Pathology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua 35100, Italy.
Abstract:
The histological commitment of the lower oesophageal mucosa largely depends on a complex molecular landscape. After extended inflammatory insult due to gastroesophageal reflux disease, squamous oesophageal mucosa may differentiate into columnar metaplastic mucosa. In this setting, the presence of intestinal metaplasia is considered the starting point of Barrett's carcinogenetic cascade. Aside from secondary prevention strategies for Barrett's mucosa (BM) patients, there are multiple endoscopic ablative therapies available for BM eradication and for the replacement of metaplastic epithelia with a neosquamous mucosa. However, BM frequently recurs in a few years, which supports the notable phenotypic plasticity of the oesophageal mucosa. In recent years, several reports pinpointed a class of small noncoding RNAs, the microRNAs (miRNAs), as principal effectors and regulators of oesophageal mucosa metaplastic (and neoplastic) transformation. Because of miRNAs notable stability in fixed archival diagnostic specimens, expression profiling of miRNAs represent an innovative diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tool in the stratification of phenotypic alterations in the oesophageal mucosa.
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