Update on the pathogenic implications and clinical potential of microRNAs in cardiac disease

Abstract

miRNAs, a unique class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, are highly conserved across species, repress gene translation upon binding to mRNA, and thereby influence many biological processes. As such, they have been recently recognized as regulators of virtually all aspects of cardiac biology, from the development and cell lineage specification of different cell populations within the heart to the survival of cardiomyocytes under stress conditions. Various miRNAs have been recently established as powerful mediators of distinctive aspects in many cardiac disorders. For instance, acute myocardial infarction induces cardiac tissue necrosis and apoptosis but also initiates a pathological remodelling response of the left ventricle that includes hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes and fibrotic deposition of extracellular matrix components. In this regard, recent findings place various miRNAs as unquestionable contributing factors in the pathogenesis of cardiac disorders, thus begging the question of whether miRNA modulation could become a novel strategy for clinical intervention. In the present review, we aim to expose the latest mechanistic concepts regarding miRNA function within the context of CVD and analyse the reported roles of specific miRNAs in the different stages of left ventricular remodelling as well as their potential use as a new class of disease-modifying clinical options.