MicroRNAs: A potential new frontier for medicine

Noted experts explore this topic in the April issue of Translational Research

2011-03-24

(Press-News.org) New York, NY, March 23, 2011 – Since their discovery in the 1990s, microRNAs have proven to play a complex role in normal and abnormal functioning of many organ systems. In the April issue of Translational Research, entitled "MicroRNAs: A Potential New Frontier for Medicine," an international group of medical experts explores several themes related to our current understanding of microRNAs and the role they may play in the future of medicine.

A commentary by Monty Montano, Department of Medicine, Boston University, provides a general introduction to this single-topic issue. He states, "In the coming years, there is much to be learned about adaptive (and maladaptive) states by examining how the expression of miRNAs is influenced by the genetic architecture of miR genes, clusters, and mirtrons, as well as miRNA polymorphism and polymorphism in their mRNA targets…Current efforts to leverage knowledge of this regulatory system to diagnose, track, and attenuate disease progression represent a major new research opportunity and challenge in this rapidly growing area of translational medicine."

KEY POINTS:

microRNA, a new paradigm for understanding immunoregulation, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases
Rujuan Dai, and S. Ansar Ahmed
The authors review in great detail the functions of microRNAs in autoimmune diseases, inflammation processes, and immune system regulation.

Integrating microRNAs into a system biology approach to acute lung injury
Tong Zhou, Joe G.N. Garcia and Wei Zhang
The authors explore the possible role of microRNAs in inflammatory lung diseases and integration into a comprehensive disease model for acute lung injury.

MicroRNAs in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Kusum V. Pandit, Jadranka Milosevic and Naftali Kaminski
The authors summarize current knowledge on the role of microRNAs in idiopathic lung fibrosis (IPF), highlighting how differentially expressed microRNAs in IPF will have a significant impact on our understanding of the disease.

Involvement of microRNAs in lung cancer biology and therapy
Xi Liu, Lorenzo F. Sempere, Yongli Guo, Murray Korc, Sakari Kauppinen, Sarah J. Freemantle and Ethan Dmitrovsky
The authors review how microRNAs can accelerate or suppress lung cancers and how this knowledge might serve as a basis for developing diagnostic markers or anti-cancer therapeutic agents.

MicroRNA biomarkers in lung cancer: MiRacle or quagMiRe?
Sai Yendamuri and Robert Kratzke
The authors explore some of the difficulties facing the development of microRNAs as biomarkers for lung disease, as well as some promising areas of research.

MicroRNAs as therapeutic targets in cancer
S. Patrick Nana-Sinkam and Carlo M. Croce
The authors review the challenges of translating current knowledge on microRNAs into effective clinical therapies for many cancers or as adjuvants for enhancing chemosensitivity to traditional therapies.

MicroRNAs in cardiac disease
Gerald W. Dorn II
The author examines the use of microRNAs as both biomarkers of cardiac diseases and as potential targets for therapies.

MicroRNAs in kidney function and disease
Sanjeev Akkina and Bryan N. Becker
The authors review the role of microRNAs in understanding the pathophysiology of kidney disease and potential therapeutic uses.

microRNAs and liver disease
Thomas A. Kerr, Kevin M. Korenblat and Nicholas O. Davidson
The authors review developments in microRNA research in the areas of pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), viral hepatitis (C and B), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as the role of miRNAs as biomarkers of liver injury and HCC.

Diabetes mellitus, a microRNA-related disease?
Claudiane Guay, Elodie Roggli, Valeria Nesca, Cécile Jacovetti and Romano Regazzi
The authors review recent studies on the role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of diabetes, including the role of several microRNAs in pancreatic beta cells and insulin-target tissues.

### These articles appear in Translational Research, The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, Volume 157, Issue 4 (April 2011) entitled "MicroRNAs: A Potential New Frontier for Medicine," published by Elsevier.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

IOM recommends standards to achieve reliable clinical practice guidelines

2011-03-24

WASHINGTON — Clinical practice guidelines and systematic reviews of the evidence base for health care services are supposed to offer health care providers, patients, and organizations authoritative guidance on the comparable pros and cons of various care options, but too often they are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines, leading to variability in the handling of conflicts of interest, appraisals of evidence, and the rigor of the evaluations. Two new reports from the ...

Risk-based approaches to security at DOE nuclear weapons facilities -- new report

2011-03-24

The U.S. Department of Energy's costs for securing its facilities that house nuclear weapons and material have increased from $550 million in 2002 to around $930 million in 2010. UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING RISK IN SECURITY SYSTEMS FOR THE DOE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX, a congressionally requested report from the National Research Council, examines whether risk-based approaches, including probabilistic risk assessment, could be used to improve methods for determining security requirements at these facilities. ###Advance copies of the report will be available to reporters ...

Research brings habitat models into the future

2011-03-24

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Time marches on, and thanks to Michigan State University research, models of wildlife habitat now can monitor changes over time more accurately and more easily. "Monitoring and projecting future changes are essential for sustainable management of coupled human and natural systems, including wildlife habitat," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at MSU. "Innovative computer models are urgently needed for effective monitoring and projection." Mao-Ning Tuanmu, doctoral student in MSU's Center for Systems Integration and ...

Prostate cancer spreads to bones by overtaking the home of blood stem cells

2011-03-24

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Like bad neighbors who decide to go wreck another community, prostate and breast cancer usually recur in the bone, according to a new University of Michigan study. Now, U-M researchers believe they know why. Prostate cancer cells specifically target and eventually overrun the bone marrow niche, a specialized area for hematopoietic stem cells, which make red and white blood cells, said Russell Taichman, professor at the U-M School of Dentistry and senior author of the study. Once in the niche, the cancer cells stay dormant and when they become active ...

Molecular muscle: Small parts of a big protein play key roles in building tissues

2011-03-24

BETHESDA, Md., March 24, 2011 – We all know the adage: A little bit of a good thing can go a long way. Now researchers in London are reporting that might also be true for a large protein associated with wound healing. The team at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Imperial College reports in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that a protein generated when the body is under stress, such as in cases of physical trauma or disease, can affect how the protective housing that surrounds each cell develops. What's more, they say, tiny pieces of that protein may one day ...

Does belief in free will lead to action?

2011-03-24

Free will may be an illusion. Yet we persist in believing we are the masters of our fates—and that belief affects how we act. Think you determine the course of your life and you're likely to work harder toward your goals and feel better about yourself too. Think you don't, and you're likelier to behave in ways that fulfill that prophesy. "Folk psychology tells us if you feel in control, you perform better," says Davide Rigoni, an experimental psychologist now at the University of Marseille. "What is crucial is that these effects are present at a very basic motor level, ...

Earning its stripes

2011-03-24

WORCESTER, Mass. – Looking at the dark stripes on the tiny zebrafish you might not expect that they hold a potentially important clue for discovering a treatment for the deadly skin disease melanoma. Yet melanocytes, the same cells that are are responsible for the pigmentation of zebrafish stripes and for human skin color, are also where melanoma originates. Craig Ceol, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and collaborators at several institutions, used zebrafish to identify a new gene responsible for promoting ...

New way to detect epileptic seizures

2011-03-24

This press release is available in French. Montreal, March 23, 2011 – Researchers at Concordia University have pioneered a computer-based method to detect epileptic seizures as they occur – a new technique that may open a window on the brain's electrical activity. Their paper, "A Novel Morphology-Based Classifier for Automatic Detection of Epileptic Seizures," presented at the annual meeting of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, documents the very successful application of this new seizure-detection method. An epileptic seizure, which is caused by disruptions ...

UCSB scientists get glimpse of how the 'code' of life may have emerged

2011-03-24

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A portion of the "code" of life has been unraveled by a UC Santa Barbara graduate student from the town of Jojutla, Mexico. Annia Rodriguez worked with John Perona, professor in UCSB's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, to decipher intramolecular communication within a large RNA-protein enzyme responsible for expressing the genetic code for the amino acid glutamine. To their surprise, the experiments by Rodriguez captured a partial glimpse of how the genetic coding of life may have emerged. The results of the study are published in ...

Staten Island Dentist Creates Smiles All Over The World

2011-03-24

For his generous heart and giving spirit, Dr. Frederick S. Hecht, of Staten Island Dental Care was the recipient of the 2011 Humanitarian Dentist of the Year Award at the Crown Council 16th Annual Event in Phoenix, Arizona on February 5th. The Frances Hammond Humanitarian Award recognizes an individual, who, in the spirit of Frances Hammond, has shown a commitment to the humanitarian ideals she so lovingly gave in a lifetime of service to others. Dr. Ron Arndt says: "Dr. Hecht is this rather robust, outspoken, often imposing and loud man's outside persona. But just ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce new research fellowship in malaria genomics in honor of professor Dominic Kwiatkowski