Title:MiRNA, a New Treatment Strategy for Pulmonary Fibrosis
Volume: 22
Issue: 7
Author(s): Yanhong Liu, Hongguang Nie*, Yan Ding, Yapeng Hou, Kejun Mao and Yong Cui
Affiliation:
- Department of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, College of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Shenyang,China
Keywords:
Pulmonary fibrosis, microRNAs, transforming growth factor-β, extracellular matrix, epithelial-mesenchymal transition,
pro-fibrotic.
Abstract: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is the most common chronic, progressive interstitial lung disease,
mainly occurring in the elderly, with a median survival of 2-4 years after diagnosis. Its high
mortality rate attributes to the delay in diagnosis due to its generic symptoms, and more importantly,
to the lack of effective treatments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding
RNAs that are involved in many essential cellular processes, including extracellular matrix remodeling,
alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, etc. We summarized the
dysregulated miRNAs in TGF-β signaling pathway-mediated PF in recent years with dual effects,
such as anti-fibrotic let-7 family and pro-fibrotic miR-21 members. Therefore, this review will set
out the latest application of miRNAs to provide a new direction for PF treatment.