MicroRNAs in bone development and their diagnostic and therapeutic potentials in osteoporosis

ABSTRACT

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs approximately 22 nucleotides in length. miRNAs play an important role in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression via translational repression and targeting messenger RNA for degradation. In vivo and in vitro evidence has established the importance of miRNAs in physiology and developmental processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and apoptosis. miRNA dysregulation is associated with the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndromes, and degenerative diseases. An increasing number of miRNAs have been found to play an important role in bone homeostasis. In this review, the roles of miRNAs in the regulation of bone formation and resorption as well as miRNAs that regulate key transcription factors of osteogenesis are discussed. A special emphasis is given to miRNAs whose direct targets have been identified. The miRNAs that contribute to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and their therapeutic potential are also considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Bone
• gene regulation
• microRNA
• osteoblast
• osteoporosis

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Dr. Kevin Tompkins for his critical review of the manuscript and valuable suggestions. This work was partially supported by the Developing Research Unit of Herbal Medicine and Oral Tissue Regeneration Fund, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University.

Declaration of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest.