Exosomal miRNAs in autoimmune skin diseases

Abstract

Exosomes, bilaterally phospholipid-coated small vesicles, are produced and released by nearly all cells, which comprise diverse biological macromolecules, including proteins, DNA, RNA, and others, that participate in the regulation of their biological functions. An increasing number of studies have revealed that the contents of exosomes, particularly microRNA(miRNA), play a significant role in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including autoimmune skin diseases. MiRNA is a class of single-stranded non-coding RNA molecules that possess approximately 22 nucleotides in length with the capability of binding to the untranslated as well as coding regions of target mRNA to regulate gene expression precisely at the post-transcriptional level. Various exosomal miRNAs have been found to be significantly expressed in some autoimmune skin diseases and involved in the pathogenesis of conditions via regulating the secretion of crucial pathogenic cytokines and the direction of immune cell differentiation. Thus, exosomal miRNAs might be promising biomarkers for monitoring disease progression, relapse and reflection to treatment based on their functions and changes. This review summarized the current studies on exosomal miRNAs in several common autoimmune skin diseases, aiming to dissect the underlying mechanism from a new perspective, seek novel biomarkers for disease monitoring and lay the foundation for developing innovative target therapy in the future.

Virus-Induced MicroRNA Modulation and Systemic Sclerosis Disease

“…On the other hand, circulating miRNAs are stable, less susceptible to degradation than RNA, and easily detectable and quantifiable by sensitive methods in different types of body fluids, first and foremost being blood and plasma [ 23 , 79 , 94 , 114 ]. These characteristics make them reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis and discrimination of several autoimmune diseases, including SSc, as demonstrated in several studies so far [ 79 , 107 , 109 , 110 , 112 , 182 , 183 ].…”

“…The diagnosis and treatment of ADs, especially of rare diseases such as SSc, are often hampered by challenges due to the complexity of the identification of initial symptoms; the poor knowledge of the disease; and the lack of rapid, accurate, and universally recognized diagnostic markers. Therefore, in recent years, growing interest has been given to the use of miRNAs as potential biomarkers or innovative therapeutic approaches [ 6 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Exosome nanovesicles: biomarkers and new strategies for treatment of human diseases

“… 267 Analysis of serum‐derived EV microRNAs also demonstrated that a variety of microRNAs were associated with MS recurrence and activity, 264 , 268 , 269 and can be used to support personalized treatment decisions. Exosomes are also used in the diagnosis and monitoring of immune disorders such as multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), 270 Sjögren's syndrome, 271 autoimmune skin diseases, 272 IgA neuropathies, 273 adult myasthenia gravis, 274 and inflammatory bowel disease. 275 , 276 …”

Recent progress of exosomal lncRNA/circRNA–miRNA–mRNA axis in lung cancer: implication for clinical application

“…Consequently, the role of exosomal miRNA in the regulation of cancer progression is substantial, making them promising candidates as diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers ( Sun et al, 2018 ). Additionally, besides their involvement in tumors, evidence indicates that exosome miRNA is implicated in corneal diseases ( Verma et al, 2023 ; Arora and Verma, 2024 ), complications of diabetes ( Xu et al, 2022 ), and autoimmune skin diseases ( Zhang R. et al, 2023 ). Hence, they possess the potential to serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in these conditions.…”