MicroRNA News and Research

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In genetics, microRNAs (miRNA) are single-stranded RNA molecules of 21-23 nucleotides in length, which regulate gene expression. miRNAs are encoded by genes from whose DNA they are transcribed but miRNAs are not translated into protein (i.e. they are non-coding RNAs); instead each primary transcript (a pri-miRNA) is processed into a short stem-loop structure called a pre-miRNA and finally into a functional miRNA. Mature miRNA molecules are partially complementary to one or more messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, and their main function is to down-regulate gene expression.

Inhibitors that activate brown fat may help treat diabetes, metabolic disorders

In recent decades, obesity has become a global problem. The disease goes hand in hand with a dramatic increase in the proportion of body fat. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the Cologne Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases at the University of Cologne have now succeeded in inhibiting a protein in mice that hampers activation of the useful "brown fat" in obese mice. When treated with inhibitors against this protein, obese mice exhibited a notable improvement of their glucose metabolism.

2 Mar 2016

New TAU study suggests potential therapeutic pathway to keep osteosarcoma lesions dormant

Osteosarcoma is a cancer that develops in the bones of children and adolescents. It is one of the most aggressive cancers, with only a 15 per cent, five-year survival rate when diagnosed in an advanced metastatic stage. There are approximately 800 new cases diagnosed each year in the US, and no viable treatments.

23 Feb 2016

Regulus reports net loss of $7.2 million for fourth quarter 2015

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2015 and provided a summary of recent corporate highlights.

23 Feb 2016

Researchers reveal how brain-specific microRNA plays key role in causing abnormal brain development

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of highly inheritable behavioural disorders that pose major personal and public health concerns. Patients with ASDs have mild to severe communication difficulties, repetitive behaviour and social challenges. Such disorders significantly challenge an individual's ability to conduct daily activities and function normally in society. Currently there are very few medication options that effectively treat ASDs.

17 Feb 2016

Study reveals another clue to workings of trachoma

Another clue to the workings of trachoma - the world's leading infectious cause of blindness - has been revealed in a new study published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Researchers identified markers of genetic regulation present in the early stages of infection that could predispose children to developing the condition in its long-term, severe form.

17 Feb 2016

Study shows new RNA letter as regulatory key to control gene expression

DNA, RNA, protein -- the end. Or is it? Until recently, the pattern used to encode genetic information into our cells was considered to be relatively straightforward: four letters (A,G,C,T) for DNA and four (A,G,C,U) for RNA. This equation, however, turned out to be oversimplified -- RNA was holding out.

17 Feb 2016

One specific microRNA has strong links to autism spectrum disorder, say TSRI scientists

Discovered only in the 1990s, microRNAs are short molecules that work within virtually all cells. Typically, each one functions as a “dimmer switch” for the expression of one or more genes, regulating a wide variety of cellular processes, including learning and memory.

16 Feb 2016

Wake Forest Baptist researchers develop new nanotechnology to detect disease biomarkers

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have developed a new technology to detect disease biomarkers in the form of nucleic acids, the building blocks of all living organisms.

15 Feb 2016

LMU researchers identify new drug target for atherosclerosis

The enzyme Dicer processes RNA transcripts, cutting them into short segments that regulate the synthesis of specific proteins. An Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich team has shown that Dicer promotes the development of atherosclerosis, thus identifying a new drug target.

10 Feb 2016

Duke scientists reveal how gut inflammation increases colon cancer risk

Chronic inflammation in the gut increases the risk of colon cancer by as much as 500 percent, and now Duke University researchers think they know why.

5 Feb 2016

DNA imprinting defect may affect children diagnosed with osteosarcoma

Children diagnosed with osteosarcoma may be impacted by a DNA imprinting defect also found in parents, according to new research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. DNA imprinting is a phenomenon in which just one of the two inherited genes is active while the other is present but inactive.

27 Jan 2016

LabCorp to offer Interpace's new ThyraMir microRNA classifier test

Interpace Diagnostics announced today that Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, the world's leading health care diagnostics company, will begin offering Interpace's new ThyraMir microRNA classifier test.

12 Jan 2016

Regulus begins RG-125(AZD4076) Phase I study for treatment of NASH in patients with type 2 diabetes/pre-diabetes

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, announced today that dosing has begun in a first-in-human Phase I clinical study of RG-125(AZD4076), by its collaboration partner AstraZeneca.

21 Dec 2015

ASU-led researchers add new worldwide resource to explore genes' deep and hidden messages

After a decade-long $3 billion international effort, scientists heralded the 2001 completion of the human genome as a moon landing achievement for biology and the key to finally solving intractable diseases like cancer.

12 Dec 2015

Mount Sinai scientists develop new tool to determine global role of microRNAs

As microRNA biology has been implicated in everything from the development of cancer to virus infections, a new tool developed by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai holds tremendous potential to develop new therapies that involve these small regulatory fragments of RNA.

11 Dec 2015

Study reveals pathogenetic role of miR-125a in pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is an umbrella term used for many conditions that all result in elevation of the pulmonary arterial pressure. Of interest, many of these completely different clinical and pathophysiological entities result in a final common pathway of vasoconstriction, micro thrombosis and vascular remodelling.

10 Dec 2015

Patients and providers satisfied with video-based health care, shows study

More than 50 million Americans live in rural areas, and many have limited access to health care. For someone living far from an urban area, local specialty care for complex health issues is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. For years, telemedicine programs across the country have connected rural patients to specialists in urban settings. Now, a study by University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers shows that patients and providers alike are satisfied with video-based health care.

9 Dec 2015

Crucial tumor-suppressing gene protects immune attack against lung cancer

A crucial tumor-thwarting gene protects an immune attack against lung cancer by blocking the key to an off switch on T cells, the customized warriors of the immune system, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

21 Nov 2015

Role of biomarkers in drug development and regulatory decision making

Biomarkers in Medicine, a leading MEDLINE-indexed journal, has published a special focus issue exploring the increasingly important role of biomarkers in both drug development and regulatory decision making.

19 Nov 2015

Simple microRNA sensor holds promise for prognosis, treatment of pancreatic and other cancers

A simple, ultrasensitive microRNA sensor developed and tested by researchers from the schools of science and medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center holds promise for the design of new diagnostic strategies and, potentially, for the prognosis and treatment of pancreatic and other cancers.

18 Nov 2015