Altered microRNA expression patterns in bronchial brushings from people with versus without cystic fibrosis (CF) relate to functional changes and disease pathophysiology. The expression of microRNAs encoded on the X chromosome is also altered in peripheral blood monocytes of p. Phe508del homozygous versus non-CF individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNational and international guidelines recommend droplet/airborne transmission and contact precautions for those caring for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in ambulatory and acute care settings. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, an acute respiratory infectious agent, is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes. A recognized key to transmission of COVID-19, and droplet infections generally, is the dispersion of bioaerosols from the patient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompared to females, males are more susceptible to acute viral and other respiratory tract infections that display greater severity and higher mortality. In contrast, females tend to fare worse with chronic inflammatory diseases. Circulating 17β-estradiol (E2) is a female-specific factor that may influence the progression of human lung diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFmicroRNA (miRNA) regulate target gene expression through translational repression and/or mRNA degradation and are involved in the regulation of inflammation. Macrophages are key inflammatory cells that are important in chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF). Macrophage-expressed miRNA represent therapeutic drug targets, yet delivery of nucleic acids to macrophages has proved challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Male neonates display poorer disease prognosis and outcomes compared with females. Immune genes which exhibit higher expression in umbilical cord blood (UCB) of females may contribute to the female immune advantage during infection and inflammation. The aim of this study was to quantify expression of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 signaling genes encoded on the X-chromosome in UCB from term female vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBronchial epithelial cells represent an invaluable tool to elucidate molecular signaling regulation in cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is a lethal genetic condition characterized by chronic inflammation in which bronchial epithelial cells play a pivotal role. Here we describe their use in analysis of microRNA (miRNA) and their target genes following a two-step RT-PCR miRNA profiling method in bronchial cell specimens from CF and control individuals where 667 human miRNA were examined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Mol Diagn
November 2016
In respiratory medicine there is a need for clinical biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of response to therapy. Noncoding RNA (ncRNA) is expressed in all human cells; two major classes--long ncRNA and microRNA--are detectable extracellularly in the circulation and other biofluids. Altered ncRNA expression is associated with lung disease; collectively this indicates that ncRNA represents a potential biomarker class.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cystic fibrosis lung is a complex milieu comprising multiple factors that coordinate its physiology. MicroRNAs are regulatory factors involved in most biological processes and it is becoming increasingly clear that they play a key role in the development and manifestations of CF lung disease. These small noncoding RNAs act posttranscriptionally to inhibit protein production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomarkers are quantifiable indicators of disease. These surrogates should be specific, sensitive, predictive, robust and easily accessible. A major class of RNA described as non-coding RNA fulfils many of these criteria, and recent studies have demonstrated that the two major subclasses of non-coding RNA, long non-coding RNA and, in particular, microRNA are promising potential biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged recently as key regulatory molecules with diverse roles at almost every level of the regulation of gene expression. The roles of these RNAs in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF); a lethal multisystem, autosomal recessive disorder have yet to be explored. Our aim was to examine the expression profile of lncRNA, in the airway epithelium of people with CF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disorder characterized by chronic airway inflammation. microRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs which act on messenger (m) RNA at a post transcriptional level, and there is a growing understanding that altered expression of miRNA is involved in the CF phenotype. Modulation of miRNA by replacement using miRNA mimics (premiRs) presents a new therapeutic paradigm for CF, but effective and safe methods of delivery to the CF epithelium are limiting clinical translation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Anti Infect Ther
March 2012
miRNAs are short, nonprotein coding RNAs that regulate target gene expression principally by causing translational repression and/or mRNA degradation. miRNAs are involved in most mammalian biological processes and have pivotal roles in controlling the expression of factors involved in basal and stimulus-induced signaling pathways. Considering their central role in the regulation of gene expression, miRNAs represent therapeutic drug targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the course of certain inflammatory lung diseases, SLPI (secretory leucoprotease inhibitor) plays a number of important roles. As a serine antiprotease it functions to protect the airways from proteolytic damage due to neutrophil and other immune cell-derived serine proteases. With respect to infection it has known antimicrobial and anti-viral properties that are likely to contribute to host defence.
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