miRNome in myocardial infarction: Future directions and perspective

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are small and non-coding RNAs, are genome encoded from viruses to humans. They contribute to various developmental, physiological and pathological processes in living organisms. A huge amount of research results revealed that miRNAs regulate these processes also in the heart. miRNAs may have cell-type-specific or tissue-specific expression patterns or may be expressed ubiquitously. Primary studies of miRNA involvement in hypertrophy, heart failure and myocardial infarction analyzed miRNAs that are enriched in or specific for cardiomyocytes; however, growing evidence suggest that other miRNAs, not cardiac or muscle-specific, play a significant role in cardiovascular disease. Abnormal miRNA regulation has been shown to be involved in cardiac diseases, suggesting that miRNAs might affect cardiac structure and function. In this review, we focus on miRNAs that have been found to contribute to the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction (MI) and the response post-MI and characterized as diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets. The majority of these studies were performed using mouse and rat models of MI, with a focus on the identification of basic cellular and molecular pathways involved in MI and in the response post-MI. Much research has also been performed on animal and human plasma samples from MI individuals to identify miRNAs that are possible prognostic and/or diagnostic targets of MI and other MI-related diseases. A large proportion of research is focused on miRNAs as promising therapeutic targets and biomarkers of drug responses and/or stem cell treatment approaches. However, only a few studies have described miRNA expression in human heart tissue following MI.

Keywords: MicroRNAs; Myocardial infarction; Human; Animal models; Biomarkers and targets

Core tip: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to various developmental, physiological and pathological processes in the heart. Cardiac diseases show abnormal miRNA regulation. Primary studies of miRNA involvement in cardiac disease analyzed mainly miRNAs that enriched in or specific for cardiomyocytes; however, growing evidence suggests that other cell-type-specific or ubiquitously expressed miRNAs are also involved in cardiovascular disease. miRNAs were found to contribute to the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction (MI) and post-MI. The majority of studies focused on miRNAs in animal models of MI, in human and animal plasma samples of MI (prognostic and diagnostic targets), and on miRNAs as promising therapeutic targets.