Targeting miR-21 in spinal cord injuries: a game-changer?

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating neurological state causing physical disability, psychological stress and financial burden. SCI global rate is estimated between 250,000 and 500,000 individuals every year, of which 60% of victims are young, healthy males between 15 and 35 years. A variety of pathological conditions such as neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, glial scar formation, blood-spinal cord barrier disruption, and angiogenesis disruption occur after SCI leading to a limitation in recovery. MicroRNAs (miRs) are endogenous and non-coding RNAs consisting of 22 nucleotides that regulate 60% of all human genes and involve several normal physiological processes and pathological conditions. miR-21 is among the most highly expressed miRs and its expression has been shown to increase one day after SCI and this elevation is sustained up to 28 days after injury. Overexpression of miR-21 exerts many protective effects against SCI by inhibiting neuroinflammation, improving blood-spinal cord barrier function, regulating angiogenesis, and controlling glial scar formation. It also exhibits anti-apoptotic effects in SCI by down-regulating the expression of PTEN, Spry2, and PDCD4. This review provides a novel therapeutic perspective for miR-21 in SCI.

Electroacupuncture Promotes Nerve Regeneration and Functional Recovery Through Regulating lncRNA GAS5 Targeting miR-21 After Sciatic Nerve Injury

“…Among these miRNAs, miR-21 has been extensively investigated and has been found to possess multiple critical regulatory functions. For example, miR-21 has been shown to increase in response to spinal cord injury (SCI) and exerts various protective effects against SCI [ 11 ]. Notably, our previous study also demonstrated that the overexpressed miR-21 promoted neurite outgrowth [ 12 ].…”

Modulation of immune cum inflammatory pathway by earthworm granulation tissue extract in wound healing of diabetic rabbit model

“…In present study, we successfully demonstrated wound healing properties of EGTE in rabbit model via gross findings, oxidative stress, connective tissue markers, pro-inflammatory markers and expression of growth markers which are considered as most important parameters for medicinal preparations having wound healing potential [ 7 , 9 , 11 ]. In recent times researchers have proposed that biomedical preparations obtained from biologics having abundant concentration of growth factors can accelerate wound healing in diabetic patients [ 13 ].…”

“…Diabetes, a metabolic disorder characterized by persistent hyperglycemia, is associated with various complications, including nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, vascular dysfunction, and the development of diabetic ulcers [ [6] , [7] , [8] ]. Individuals diagnosed with diabetes face an increased risk of developing diabetic ulcers, a perplexing and highly distressing complication that further complicates their diabetes management [ 9 , 10 ]. The healthcare costs associated with treating these diabetic ulcers impose a substantial economic burden on patients, and these ulcers also exhibit a high recurrence rate, affecting approximately 50 % of diabetic individuals [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Given the rising prevalence of diabetes and the associated risk of diabetic ulcers, there is an urgent need to explore novel medications with minimal side effects. Recognizing the promising indications of wound healing potential in various earthworm-derived extracts and preparations [ 9 , 20 ], the current study was designed to assess the wound healing potential of earthworm granulation tissue extract in a rabbit model of diabetes induced by Streptozotocin (STZ). Furthermore, this study aimed to uncover and understand the mechanistic pathways facilitated by EGTE in wound healing in a diabetic rabbit model, with the ultimate goal of developing effective topical treatments for diabetic patients with wounds.…”

MicroRNAs in spinal cord injury: A narrative review

“…Overexpression of miR-223 decreased the protein expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18, NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1, and regulated the transformation of macrophages between types in injured spinal cords of mice with chronic sciatic nerve injury (Zhu et al, 2021). In addition, were involved in the apoptosis of cells after SCI (Jee et al, 2012b;He et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2016;Bai et al, 2021;Huang et al, 2021;Malvandi et al, 2022;Ma et al, 2022a). miR-133b, miR-20a, and miR-124 are involved in promoting angiogenesis and regulating nerve repair after SCI (Yu et al, 2015;Theis et al, 2017;Cui et al, 2019;Wang T. et al, 2019;Danilov et al, 2020).…”