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
Review
. 2022 Aug 19;27(1):70.
doi: 10.1186/s11658-022-00368-y.

The current landscape of microRNAs (miRNAs) in bacterial pneumonia: opportunities and challenges

Fan Zhang  1 , Yunxin Zhou  1 , Junying Ding  2
Affiliations
Review

The current landscape of microRNAs (miRNAs) in bacterial pneumonia: opportunities and challenges

Fan Zhang et al. Cell Mol Biol Lett. .

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which were initially discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, can regulate gene expression by recognizing cognate sequences and interfering with the transcriptional or translational machinery. The application of bioinformatics tools for structural analysis and target prediction has largely driven the investigation of certain miRNAs. Notably, it has been found that certain miRNAs which are widely involved in the inflammatory response and immune regulation are closely associated with the occurrence, development, and outcome of bacterial pneumonia. It has been shown that certain miRNA techniques can be used to identify related targets and explore associated signal transduction pathways. This enhances the understanding of bacterial pneumonia, notably for "refractory" or drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia. Although these miRNA-based methods may provide a basis for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this disease, they still face various challenges, such as low sensitivity, poor specificity, low silencing efficiency, off-target effects, and toxic reactions. The opportunities and challenges of these methods have been completely reviewed, notably in bacterial pneumonia. With the continuous improvement of the current technology, the miRNA-based methods may surmount the aforementioned limitations, providing promising support for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of "refractory" or drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia.

Keywords: Bacterial pneumonia; Host–pathogen; Off-target effect; Sensitivity; Specificity; miRNA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The biosynthesis process of microRNAs. This multistep maturation process includes the production of the pri-miRNA transcript by RNA Pol II&III and cleavage of the pri-miRNA by the microprocessor complex (Drosha and DGCR8) in the nucleus. The resulting pre-miRNAs are exported from the nucleus via Exportin-5. In the cytoplasm, the RNase Dicer forms a complex and cleaves the pre-miRNA hairpin to its mature length. The functional strand of the mature miRNA is combined with Ago2 into the RISC, where it guides it to induce silencing of target mRNAs through mRNA cleavage, translational repression, or deadenylation
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic diagram of miRNA-mediated translational repression. In RISC, miRNA-mediated downregulation of target gene activity occurs via two modes: target mRNA cleavage or translational inhibition. The choice is made based on the degree of complementarity between the miRNA and target gene in combination with an Argonaute family protein. Near-perfect complementarity results in cleavage, followed by general RNA degradation of the targets, whereas partial complementarity causes translational inhibition. miRNA-targeted mRNAs can be sequestered on polysomes or recruited to P-bodies where they are depleted of the translation machinery and eventually degraded
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The interactions between the host and the pathogen. As a part of host innate immunity and adaptive immune response, pathogen infection is neutralized by miRNAs by regulating the recognition of the pathogen, the defense against it, and its clearance. At the same time, miRNAs can inhibit the host immune response and induce host infection by enhancing the invasion of pathogens, moderating the virulence of pathogens, and aiding their immune escape
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Examples of miRNAs and their targets and biological functions in bacterial pneumonia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Torres A, Cilloniz C, Niederman MS, Menéndez R, Chalmers JD, Wunderink RG, et al. Pneumonia. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2021;7(1):25. doi: 10.1038/s41572-021-00259-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tao B, Jiang L, Chen L. Aberrant expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide and its correlation with prognosis in severe childhood pneumonia. Clinics (Sao Paulo) 2020;75:e1448. doi: 10.6061/clinics/2020/e1448. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adhanom G, Gebreegziabiher D, Weldu Y, Gebreyesus Wasihun A, Araya T, Legese H, et al. Species, risk factors, and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of bacterial isolates from HIV-infected patients suspected to have pneumonia in Mekelle Zone, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Biomed Res Int. 2019;2019:8768439. doi: 10.1155/2019/8768439. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schweitzer MD, Calzadilla AS, Salamo O, Sharifi A, Kumar N, Holt G, et al. Lung health in era of climate change and dust storms. Environ Res. 2018;163:36–42. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.02.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ho J, Ip M. Antibiotic-resistant community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2019;33(4):1087–1103. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2019.07.002. - DOI - PubMed