The Role of MicroRNAs in Kidney Disease

Non-Coding RNA

Sydwell Mukhadi⁴  Rodney Hull³  Zukile Mbita¹  Zodwa Dlamini² 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Limpopo, Private Bag x1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa; E-Mail:;Research, Innovation & Engagements Portfolio, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban 4031, South Africa;College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1709, Johannesburg 1709, South Africa; E-Mail:;Forensic Science Laboratory, 730 Pretorius street, Arcadia 0083, South Africa; E-Mail:

关键词: miRNAs;    kidney diseases;    gene regulation;    diagnostics;    therapeutics;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ncrna1030192

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs that regulate pathophysiological processes that suppress gene expression by binding to messenger RNAs. These biomolecules can be used to study gene regulation and protein expression, which will allow better understanding of many biological processes such as cell cycle progression and apoptosis that control the fate of cells. Several pathways have also been implicated to be involved in kidney diseases such as Transforming Growth Factor-β, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase signaling, and Wnt signaling pathways. The discovery of miRNAs has provided new insights into kidney pathologies and may provide new innovative and effective therapeutic strategies. Research has demonstrated the role of miRNAs in a variety of kidney diseases including renal cell carcinoma, diabetic nephropathy, nephritic syndrome, renal fibrosis, lupus nephritis and acute pyelonephritis. MiRNAs are implicated as playing a role in these diseases due to their role in apoptosis, cell proliferation, differentiation and development. As miRNAs have been detected in a stable condition in different biological fluids, they have the potential to be tools to study the pathogenesis of human diseases with a great potential to be used in disease prognosis and diagnosis. The purpose of this review is to examine the role of miRNA in kidney disease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.