Journal
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
Volume 80, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
SPRINGER BASEL AG
DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-04793-w
Keywords
miRNA; VSMC; Phenotypic transformation; Contractile phenotype; Synthetic phenotype
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Alterations in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) phenotype, regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs), play a critical role in cardiovascular diseases. Aberrant miRNA expression targets specific genes involved in VSMC phenotypic transformation, affecting atherosclerosis, hypertension, and coronary artery disease. This review highlights the progress in understanding miRNAs' mechanisms and functions in VSMC phenotypic regulation, with potential implications for clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets.
Alterations in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) phenotype play a critical role in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, and restenosis after angioplasty. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding RNAs (approximately 19-25 nucleotides in length) that function as regulators in various physiological and pathophysiological events. Recent studies have suggested that aberrant miRNAs' expression might underlie VSMC phenotypic transformation, appearing to regulate the phenotypic transformations of VSMCs by targeting specific genes that either participate in the maintenance of the contractile phenotype or contribute to the transformation to alternate phenotypes, and affecting atherosclerosis, hypertension, and coronary artery disease by altering VSMC proliferation, migration, differentiation, inflammation, calcification, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, suggesting an important regulatory role in vascular remodeling for maintaining vascular homeostasis. This review outlines recent progress in the discovery of miRNAs and elucidation of their mechanisms of action and functions in VSMC phenotypic regulation. Importantly, as the literature supports roles for miRNAs in modulating vascular remodeling and for maintaining vascular homeostasis, this area of research will likely provide new insights into clinical diagnosis and prognosis and ultimately facilitate the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available