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MicroRNA-21 in Cardiovascular Disease

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Abstract

MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is a highly expressed microRNA (miRNA) in cardiovascular system. Recent studies have revealed that its expression is deregulated in heart and vasculature under cardiovascular disease conditions such as proliferative vascular disease, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, and ischemic heart disease. miR-21 is found to play important roles in vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and apoptosis, cardiac cell growth and death, and cardiac fibroblast functions. Accordingly, miR-21 is proven to be involved in the pathogenesis of the above-mentioned cardiovascular diseases as demonstrated by both loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches. Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4), phosphatase and tensin homology deleted from chromosome 10 (PTEN), sprouty1 (SPRY1), and sprouty2 (SPRY2) are the current identified target genes of miR-21 that are involved in miR-21-mediated cardiovascular effects. miR-21 might be a novel therapeutic target in cardiovascular diseases. This review article summarizes the research progress regarding the roles of miR-21 in cardiovascular disease.

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Acknowledgments

The author's research was supported by a National Institutes of Health Grant (HL080133) and a grant from the American Heart Association (09GRNT2250567).

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  1. RNA and Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 185 South Orange Avenue, MSB-E548, Newark, NJ, 07101, USA

    Yunhui Cheng & Chunxiang Zhang

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  1. Yunhui Cheng
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  2. Chunxiang Zhang
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Correspondence to Chunxiang Zhang.

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Cheng, Y., Zhang, C. MicroRNA-21 in Cardiovascular Disease. J. of Cardiovasc. Trans. Res. 3, 251–255 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-010-9169-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-010-9169-7

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