Significance of circulating microRNAs in diabetes mellitus type 2 and platelet reactivity: bioinformatic analysis and review

Abstract

In the light of growing global epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), significant efforts are made to discover next-generation biomarkers for early detection of the disease. Multiple mechanisms including inflammatory response, abnormal insulin secretion and glucose metabolism contribute to the development of T2DM. Platelet activation, on the other hand, is known to be one of the underlying mechanisms of atherosclerosis, which is a common T2DM complication that frequently results in ischemic events at later stages of the disease. Available data suggest that platelets contain large amounts of microRNAs (miRNAs) that are found in circulating body fluids, including the blood. Since miRNAs have been illustrated to play an important role in metabolic homeostasis through regulation of multiple genes, they attracted substantial scientific interest as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in T2DM. Various miRNAs, as well as their target genes are implicated in the complex pathophysiology of T2DM. This article will first review the different miRNAs studied in the context of T2DM and platelet reactivity, and subsequently present original results from bioinformatic analyses of published reports, identifying a common gene ( PRKAR1A ) linked to glucose metabolism, blood coagulation and insulin signalling and targeted by miRNAs in T2DM. Moreover, miRNA–target gene interaction networks built upon Gene Ontology information from electronic databases were developed. According to our results, miR-30a-5p, miR-30d-5p and miR-30c-5p are the most widely regulated miRNAs across all specified ontologies, hence they are the most promising biomarkers of T2DM to be investigated in future clinical studies.

The Relation of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor with MicroRNAs in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Ischemic Stroke

“…MiRNAs play a crucial role in diverse biological and pathological processes in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurological disorders and neurovascular disease. They are promising novel disease biomarkers and treatment approaches in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as well as in neurodegenerative disease and ischemic stroke as they regulate gene expressions [11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Vascular miR-181b controls tissue factor-dependent thrombogenicity and inflammation in type 2 diabetes

“…Recently, a critical role of microRNA (miR)s in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes-related complications has been demonstrated [17][18][19]. Binding of specific target transcripts by miRs leads to mRNA degradation and translational repression.…”

Early Biomarkers of Neurodegenerative and Neurovascular Disorders in Diabetes

“…Several different methods were used in order to detect miRNAs, including Northern blotting, microarray analysis, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Apart from these techniques, new strategies have been developed, including sensitive miRNA biosensors such as silicon nanowires, gold nanoparticles, silver nanoclusters and conducting polymer/carbon nanotube hybrids [ 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ].…”