Therapeutic Potential of miRNAs for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Overview

Abstract

MicroRNA(miRNA)s have been identified as an emerging class for therapeutic interventions mainly due to their extracellularly stable presence in humans and animals and their potential for horizontal transmission and action. However, treating Type 2 diabetes mellitus using this technology has yet been in a nascent state. MiRNAs play a significant role in the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus establishing the potential for utilizing miRNA-based therapeutic interventions to treat the disease. Recently, the administration of miRNA mimics or antimiRs in-vivo has resulted in positive modulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. Further, several cell culture-based interventions have suggested beta cell regeneration potential in miRNAs. Nevertheless, few such miRNA-based therapeutic approaches have reached the clinical phase. Therefore, future research contributions would identify the possibility of miRNA therapeutics for tackling T2DM. This article briefly reported recent developments on miRNA-based therapeutics for treating Type 2 Diabetes mellitus, associated implications, gaps, and recommendations for future studies.

MicroRNA-155 mediates endogenous angiotensin II type 1 receptor regulation: implications for innovative type 2 diabetes mellitus management

“…The data presented above strongly support the role of miR-155 as a major player in the pathogenesis of T2DM and complications, by triggering IR and β-cell loss as well as through RAAS modulatory effects (Figure 1 )[ 5 , 8 ]. Large multicenter trials are required to establish this role of miRNA as a reliable biomarker and potential therapeutic target in DM.…”

“…In addition, a better understanding is needed on how several miRNAs work synergistically on the same mRNA targets and how miRNA networks function. As disease-specific miRNA expression pattern is ubiquitous in all related tissues, it can prove challenging in a complex disease like DM to accomplish precise delivery to certain tissues/organs and avoid adverse off-target effects in others[ 5 ].…”

“…Ominous future predictions estimate the number of DM-afflicted individuals to be over 800 million by 2045, up from the current 500 million[ 1 ]. Increased understanding of the T2DM pathogenesis is, therefore, acutely needed in order to devise innovative, preventative and potentially curative pharmacological interventions[ 5 ].…”

“…It exhibits unique expression profiles and multifunctionality but is minimally detected under normal physiological conditions[ 13 ]. With a target repertoire of over 241 genes, miR-155 plays critical roles in various physiological and pathological processes, such as hematopoietic cell line differentiation, inflammation, immunity (especially viral and parasitic infections), cancer, cardiovascular conditions, and notably, DM (Table 1 )[ 5 , 8 , 12 - 25 ].…”

Stem Cell Therapy in Critical Limb Ischemia

“…The ever-increasing trend of molecular approach and linkage between CLI and type 2 diabetes mellitus suggests the need for new medical therapies. miRNAs appear to be favorable therapeutic and diagnostic targets because they are particularly involved in neovascularization [58,59]. All preclinical, animal, and clinical studies point towards an overall positive outcome of such therapy.…”