The emerging role of microRNAs in cardiac remodeling and heart failure

Circulation Research recently published the third review article that is part of a thematic series on MicroRNAs and Heart Disease. All three articles are freely accessible:

The emerging role of microRNAs in cardiac remodeling and heart failure.
Circulation Research. 2008;103:1072
Divakaran V, Mann DL.

Recent studies have suggested a potentially important role for a family of tiny regulatory RNAs, known as microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs), in the control of diverse aspects of cardiac function in health and disease. Although the field of miRNA biology is relatively new, there is emerging evidence that miRNAs may play an important role in the pathogenesis of heart failure through their ability to regulate the expression levels of genes that govern the process of adaptive and maladaptive cardiac remodeling. Here, we review the biology of miRNAs in relation to their role in modulating various aspects of the process of cardiac remodeling, as well as discuss the potential application of miRNA biology to the field of heart failure.

http://circres.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/103/10/1072

Previously published in this series:

Toward microRNA-based therapeutics for heart disease: the sense in antisense.
Circulation Research. 2008;103:919
van Rooij E, Marshall WS, Olson EN.

Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA.

MicroRNAs act as negative regulators of gene expression by inhibiting the translation or promoting the degradation of target mRNAs. Because individual microRNAs often regulate the expression of multiple target genes with related functions, modulating the expression of a single microRNA can, in principle, influence an entire gene network and thereby modify complex disease phenotypes. Recent studies have identified signature expression patterns of microRNAs associated with pathological cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, and myocardial infarction in humans and mouse models of heart disease. Gain- and loss-of-function studies in mice have revealed profound and unexpected functions for these microRNAs in numerous facets of cardiac biology, including the control of myocyte growth, contractility, fibrosis, and angiogenesis, providing glimpses of new regulatory mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for heart disease. Especially intriguing is the discovery of a network of muscle-specific microRNAs embedded within myosin heavy chain genes, which control myosin expression and the response of the heart to stress and thyroid hormone signaling. Disease-inducing cardiac microRNAs can be persistently silenced in vivo through systemic delivery of antimiRs, allowing for the direct therapeutic modulation of disease mechanisms. Here, we summarize current knowledge of the roles of miRNAs in heart disease and consider the advantages and potential challenges of microRNA-based approaches compared to conventional drug-based therapies.

http://circres.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/103/9/919