miRNAs in Pathophysiology of Disease

Dear Colleagues,

miRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate their target mRNAs, mostly by binding to their 3′UTRs. First discovered in C. elegans, miRs have been identified and studied in plants, animals and even in viruses. As the research on miRs has grown over the past decade, new information about their involvement in multiple physiological cell functions is beginning to be elucidated. As a matter of fact, their dysregulation can lead to serious pathologies such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental disorders and viral infection. There is a great demand to understand the principles of context-specific miRNA target recognition in order to elucidate their role in the development and pathophysiology of diseases, as well as to improve miR detection methods and design future therapeutic strategies. We are pleased to invite you to the MDPI Topic collections “miRNAs in Pathophysiology of Disease”. MDPI Topics are collections of articles that concentrate on specific cutting-edge, interdisciplinary themes published in different MDPI journals. The aim of the current topic is to allow authors from different research areas (such as cancer, immunology, neurology, metabolism, engineering and biophysics) to focus on the role of miRs in diseases, describe the multi-disciplinary applications of their research and develop new ideas. For this collection, papers should be submitted in one of the following journals: Cancers, Biology, Current Oncology, Diseases or Onco. In this Topic, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: cancer progression, inflammatory and infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, miRNA-based biomarkers and therapies, new technologies for miRNA detection and new target prediction tools. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Francesca Orso
Dr. Roberto Coppo
Dr. Federico Virga
Topic Editors