Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec;6(10):1791-5.
doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2012/4901.2653. Epub 2012 Oct 25.

Circulating MicroRNAs as Biomarkers in Health and Disease

V Kuzhandai Velu  1 , R Ramesh, A R Srinivasan
Affiliations

Circulating MicroRNAs as Biomarkers in Health and Disease

V Kuzhandai Velu et al. J Clin Diagn Res. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

In the recent years, circulating nucleic acids have emerged as new biomarkers. Among these, microRNAs(miRNA) have evolved as promising and potential markers of both physiological and pathological conditions. MiRNA are transcribed from DNA like the other mRNA molecules. Their secretions and functions have to be still explored in humans, though many theories have been proposed. It is a small non coding RNA which plays an important role in the regulation of the gene expression, cell-cell communication, cell division and apoptosis. MiRNAs are stable and tissue specific and they can be identified and quantitated, which make them ideal biomarkers. This review highlights the secretion,mechanism of action and the role of miRNA in the diagnosis and the management of different disease conditions.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Expression; PCR; miRNA; microarray.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

[Table/Fig-1]:
[Table/Fig-1]:
Biogenesis of Pathway of miRNA
[Table/Fig-2]:
[Table/Fig-2]:
The secretion of miRNA
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Swarup V, Rajeswari MR. Circulating (cell-free) nucleic acids--a promising, non-invasive tool for early detection of several human diseases. FEBS Lett. 2007 Mar 6;581(5):795–99. - PubMed
    1. Bartel DP. MicroRNAs: genomics, biogenesis, mechanism, and function. Cell. 2004 Jan 23;116(2):281–97. - PubMed
    1. Lee RC, Feinbaum RL, Ambros V. The C. elegansheterochronic gene lin-4 encodes small RNAs with antisense complementarity to lin-14. Cell. 1993 Dec 3;75(5):843–54. - PubMed
    1. Lee Y, Kim M, Han J, Yeom K-H, Lee S, Baek SH, et al. MicroRNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II. The EMBO Journal. 2004 Sep 16;23(20):4051–60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Borchert GM, Lanier W, Davidson BL. RNA polymerase III transcribes human microRNAs. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1097–101. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources