MicroRNAs Recognized as New Targets for Treating Asthma

According to an article published in Stem Cells and Development, a new research demonstrates that microRNAs, which are small, non-coding RNA molecules that could silence genes, have a significant function in inducing asthma. Managing the function of particular microRNAs recognized in the research could represent a new method to asthma treatment, according to an article in Stem Cells and Development. The article is accessible free on the Stem Cells and Development website.

In “MicroRNAs Involved in Asthma Following Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment,” Guan-Nan Tang and co-authors from Sun Yat-sen University, China, analyzed the modifying levels of microRNAs in a mouse model of asthma after the induction of asthma and following a transplant of human bone marrow produced mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). The BM-MSCs reduce asthma associated airway inflammation. The investigators recognized a sequence of microRNAs that had various expression levels following asthma induction and BM-MSC treatment.

Editor-in-Chief Graham C. Parker states that:

“This interesting convergent work offers not only a model for revealing new findings in disease pathogenesis, but also suggests the miR21-Acvr2a axis as a significant regulator of the therapeutic effect of MSC in asthma,”.

Article: MicroRNAs Involved in Asthma After Mesenchymal Stem Cells Treatment,