Noncoding RNAs in acute kidney injury

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI), caused by various stimuli including ischemia reperfusion, nephrotoxic insult, and sepsis, is characterized by abrupt decline of kidney function. Till now, the molecular mechanisms for AKI have not been fully explored and the effective therapies are still lacking. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), a group of biomolecules function at RNA level, are involved in a wide range of physiopathological processes including AKI. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the most extensively studied ncRNAs in AKI. Evidence indicated that miRNAs are altered significantly in various types of AKI. Gain-and-loss-of-function studies demonstrated that miRNAs, such as miR-24, miR-126, miR-494, and miR-687, may bind to the 3'-untranslated region of their target genes to regulate inflammation, programmed cell death, and cell cycle in the injury and repair stages of AKI, indicating their therapeutic potential in AKI. In contrast, functions of long noncoding RNAs and circular RNAs in AKI are hot topics but still largely unknown. Additionally, ncRNAs packaged in exosome can be detected in circulation and urine, they may serve as specific biomarkers for AKI. This review summarized the alteration and functional role of ncRNAs and their therapeutic potential in AKI.

LncRNA GAS5 promotes apoptosis as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-21 via thrombospondin 1 in ischemic AKI

“…Godwin et al first compared the genome-wide miRNA expression profile between I/R-and Sham-treated kidneys 20 . Several specific miRNAs, such as miR-24, miR-30a, miR-146, and miR-210, were also investigated in subsequent studies 21 . Accumulating evidence has elucidated that miR-21 protected renal epithelial cells against hypoxic and inflammatory injury and participated in renal protection of delayed IPC 2 , xenon preconditioning 22 , and delayed remote IPC 23 in AKI.…”

hsa‐miR‐500a‐3P alleviates kidney injury by targeting MLKL‐mediated necroptosis in renal epithelial cells

“…Modulation of renal disease-specific miRNAs (e.g., miR-24, miR-26, miR-126, and miR-205) has demonstrated encouraging therapeutic outcomes in animal models of AKI. These findings indicate that miRNAs serve as key regulators and potential therapeutic targets for AKI (10). Previous studies also indicate that miRNAs confer function through specific targeting of molecules correlated with necroptosis.…”

“…They are also well-studied epigenetic regulators; miRNAs bind to mRNAs during posttranscriptional regulation, with their primary function involving degradation of target mRNAs. Accumulating evidence shows that miRNAs play a significant role in AKI (10,20). Knockout of dicer block miRNAs alleviates renal damage induced by ischemic reperfusion injury (21).…”

“…We recently published a review describing how noncoding RNAs, particularly microRNAs (miRNAs), are involved in the pathologic process of AKI. They function in renal injury and repair by regulating programmed cell death, inflammation, and cell proliferation (10). More recent attention has been focused on how miRNAs regulate necroptosis.…”

Circular and long non-coding RNAs and their role in ophthalmologic diseases

“…atherosclerotic vascular disease risk, neurological disorders, prion and Alzheimer diseases, rheumatoid arthritis or kidney injury. circRNAs can play a crucial role in tumorigenic processes in different types of cancers, such as: ovarian carcinoma, bladder, papillary thyroid, colorectal, lung or breast cancers (Hu et al, 2018b;Ren et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018b;Yang et al, 2018a;Zhang et al, 2018). circRNAs were described also as potential disease biomarkers in human saliva and blood and as biomarkers for ageing and gastric cancer (Bachmayr-Heyda et al, circRNAs function as microRNA (miRNA) sponges .…”