New Advance in MicroRNAs as Regulators, Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

The American Heart Association considers diabetes one of the seven major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In fact, Type 2 diabetic people are two times more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular diseases such as strokes, heart failure, and heart attacks. The main factors increasing the risk for T2D people of developing CVD include hypertension, abnormal cholesterol and high triglycerides, obesity, lack of physical activity, poorly controlled blood sugar, and smoking. However, recent lines of evidences have indicated that not all CVD patients develop diabetes, suggesting that there might be distinct features that regulates the diseases and can be markers of distinction.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as micro- and long-non-coding RNAs (miRNAs and lncRNAs) have attracting growing interest because of their potential role in insulin resistance and CVD modulation. Behind the canonical roles of miRNAs as inhibitors of protein-coding transcripts in the RISC of several cells and of lncRNAs as sponges of epigenetic regulators of gene expression, several genome-wide associated studies and sequencing data are currently underlining the existence of additional roles and mechanisms of action of ncRNAs as fine-tune regulators and interconnectors between different diseases. Indeed, canonical ncRNAs and non-canonical ncRNAs, such as circular RNAs, miRtrons, isomiRs, and miRNA-like ncRNAs increase the spectra of action and versatility of the ncRNA family. Since ncRNAs are stable and easily detectable in biological fluids, ncRNAs have been investigated as promising diagnostic and therapeutic markers in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Nevertheless, recent findings indicate that miRNAs and lncRNAs can exert novel adaptive functions, such as miRNAs interacting with transcript factors and circRNAs released to activate the inflammation. Hence, ncRNAs can potentially be involved in clinical applications.

This Special Issue is dedicated to research articles and reviews regarding miRNA mechanisms when acting as regulators, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets in diseases.

Dr. Lucia Natarelli
Guest Editor

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