RNA Interference—Small RNAs in Biomedicine
A Special Issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425) belonging to the section "RNA".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2026 | Viewed by 500
Editor
Interests: RNAi; RNA decay; miRNA; siRNA; DNA transposons
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Based on remarkable scientific discoveries of the 20th century, RNA interference has been recognized as a collective term for various small RNA-related regulatory pathways. The common effectors in these pathways are specific ribonucleoprotein complexes containing short, single-stranded RNA molecules and members of the Argonaute protein family. At least three major pathways are considered to be RNAi-related: the short-interfering RNA pathway, representing a molecular immune system against invasive genetic elements; the microRNA pathway, which evolved to be a complex, posttranscriptional regulatory network in eukaryotes; and the Piwi-associated RNA pathway, which was originally described as a defense system against transposable elements, particularly in germline cells.
The scientific significance of these small-RNA-based regulatory pathways was recognized by the Nobel Prize in 2006 for RNAi (in fact, for the double-stranded RNA-initiated siRNA pathway), and by the recently awarded Nobel Prize in 2024 for the discovery of miRNAs. Since the initial discoveries, several molecular aspects of these pathways have been elucidated, and dysregulation of them has been associated with various cellular malfunctions and human diseases. As a result of this, mutations or expression profile changes in small RNAs have begun to be used as biomarkers, although the connection between the small RNA malfunction and the phenotype is not always understood. In addition, gene therapy applications are also considering siRNA- or miRNA-based methods, indicating that the molecular details of these pathways clearly reach beyond pure scientific interest.
The aim of this Special Issue is to provide up-to-date information on various aspects of RNA interference, especially focusing on the potential medical applications of this knowledge. Papers addressing the prospective functions of small RNAs in biofluids (in blood, urine, saliva, etc.), or in extracellular vesicles, are especially encouraged, but papers describing the new biomedical aspects or therapeutic applications of siRNAs or miRNAs are also welcome. Gathering the most recent results by using cutting-edge technologies, we would like to show how modern molecular genetics and molecular medicine can benefit from the applied knowledge of the RNAi pathways.
Dr. Tamas Orban
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- RNAi
- miRNA
- siRNA
- piRNA
- extracellular vesicle
- vesicular miRNA
- biofluids
- blood miRNA
- serum miRNA
- urine miRNA
- saliva miRNA
- miRNA therapy
- siRNA therapy
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