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Isolation and In Vitro Culture of Murine and Human Alveolar Macrophages
Published on: April 20, 2018
A Review of Macrophage MicroRNAs' Role in Human Asthma
Gavriela Feketea1, Corina I Bocsan2, Cristian Popescu3
1Department of Hematology, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400124 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Fechetea.Gabriela@umfcluj.ro.
Abstract:
There is an imbalance in asthma between classically activated macrophages (M1 cells) and alternatively activated macrophages (M2 cells) in favor of the latter. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in regulating macrophage proliferation and differentiation and control the balance of M1 and M2 macrophage polarization, thereby controlling immune responses. Here we review the current published data concerning miRNAs with known correlation to a specific human macrophage phenotype and polarization, and their association with adult asthma. MiRNA-targeted therapy is still in the initial stages, but clinical trials are under recruitment or currently running for some miRNAs in other diseases. Regulating miRNA expression via their upregulation or downregulation could show potential as a novel therapy for improving treatment efficacy in asthma.
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