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Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, substantial progress has been made in studying the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of diseases. miRNAs are relevant components of the cellular epigenetic machinery that act as specific gene silencers by base pairing to a target mRNA. miRNAs have emerged as body homeostasis peacekeepers, playing critical roles in the pathology of a variety of disorders, including cancer.

miRNAs are also basic regulators of metabolic processes that participate in maintaining energy balance and metabolic homeostasis. The dysregulation of miRNAs has been established to reflect the condition and functions of various tissues and organs, probably contributing to their abnormalities.

The discovery of circulating miRNAs in plasma and other bodily fluids has emphasized their potential as relevant intercellular signalling molecules and disease indicators. In addition, clinical trial data have predicted both anti-miR and miR-mimic compounds as a new class of drugs for therapeutic applications in next-generation medicine, and numerous biopharmaceuticals companies are currently involved in this opportunity.

The diagnosis and prognostic potential of miRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers has been advised either as individual biomarkers or in combination. Inconsistencies found between different studies could be explained, at least in part, by differences in extraction and identification procedures, experimental setup, and data processing, thus pointing to the importance of developing well-standardized protocols and operative guidelines.

In this context, all kinds of studies related to miRNAs as biomarkers are of interest to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Iacomino
Dr. Fabio Lauria
Guest Editors

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Keywords

circulating miRNAs
exosome miRNAs
blood-derived miRNAs
saliva miRNAs
urine miRNAs
role in diagnosis and prognosis
disease biomarkers
theranostic biomarkers
cancer biomarkers
obesity/weight loss
diabetes
cardiovascular diseases
metabolic syndrome
aberrant miRNAs expression
anti-miR/miR-mimics
methods for miRNAs quantification
methods for miRNAs data analysis

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

12 pages, 7364 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification and Verification of Candidate miRNA Biomarkers with Application to Infection with Emiliania huxleyi Virus

by Enquan Zhang, Shumiao Zhang, Guiling Li, Zhengxiao Zhang and Jingwen Liu

Genes 2023, 14(9), 1716; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14091716 - 28 Aug 2023

Viewed by 872

Abstract

The interactions of Emiliania huxleyi and its specific lytic virus (EhV) have a profound influence on marine biogeochemical carbon–sulfur cycles and play a prominent role in global climate change. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising candidates with extensive diagnostic potential due to their role in virus–host interactions. However, the application of miRNA signatures as diagnostic markers in marine viral infection has made limited progress. Based on our previous small-RNA sequencing data, one host miRNA biomarker that is upregulated in early infection and seven viral miRNA biomarkers that are upregulated in late infection were identified and verified using qRT-PCR and a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in pure culture, mixed culture, and natural seawater culture. The host ehx-miR20-5p was able to significantly differentiate infection groups from the control in the middle (24 h post-infection, hpi) and late infection (48 hpi) phases, while seven virus-derived miRNA biomarkers could diagnose the early and late stages of EhV infection. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these miRNAs participated in numerous essential metabolic pathways, including gene transcription and translation, cell division-related pathways, protein-degradation-related processes, and lipid metabolism. Additionally, a dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed the targeted relationship between a viral ehv-miR7-5p and the host dihydroceramide desaturase gene (hDCD). This finding suggests that the virus-derived miRNA has the ability to inhibit the host sphingolipid metabolism, which is a specific characteristic of EhV infection during the late stage. Our data revealed a cluster of potential miRNA biomarkers with significant regulatory functions that could be used to diagnose EhV infection, which has implications for assessing the infectious activity of EhV in a natural marine environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Ins and Outs of miRNAs as Biomarkers—Volume II)

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