MicroRNAs in Atrial Fibrillation: from Expression Signatures to Functional Implications

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and is associated with pronounced morbidity and mortality. Its prevalence, expected to further increase for the forthcoming years, and associated frequent hospitalizations turn AF into a major health problem. Structural and electrical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cardiovascular drugs and therapy 2017-06, Vol.31 (3), p.345-365
Main Authors: van den Berg, Nicoline W. E., Kawasaki, Makiri, Berger, Wouter R., Neefs, Jolien, Meulendijks, Eva, Tijsen, Anke J., de Groot, Joris R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrhythmia
Biomarkers
Cardiac arrhythmia
Cardiology
Diagnostic systems
Fibrillation
Fibrosis
Gene expression
Ion channels
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
MicroRNAs
miRNA
Morbidity
Review
Review Article
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
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Summary:Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and is associated with pronounced morbidity and mortality. Its prevalence, expected to further increase for the forthcoming years, and associated frequent hospitalizations turn AF into a major health problem. Structural and electrical atrial remodelling underlie the substrate for AF, but the exact mechanisms driving this remodelling remain incompletely understood. Recent studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNA), short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression, may be involved in the pathophysiology of AF. MiRNAs have been implicated in AF-induced ion channel remodelling and fibrosis. MiRNAs could therefore provide insight into AF pathophysiology or become novel targets for therapy with miRNA mimics or anti-miRNAs. Moreover, circulating miRNAs have been suggested as a new class of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of AF. However, the origin and function of miRNAs in tissue and plasma frequently remain unknown and studies investigating the role of miRNAs in AF vary in design and focus and even present contradicting results. Here, we provide a systematic review of the available clinical and functional studies investigating the tissue and plasma miRNAs in AF and will thereafter discuss the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers or novel therapeutic targets in AF.
ISSN:0920-3206
1573-7241
DOI:10.1007/s10557-017-6736-z