MICRORNAS AND THEIR RELEVANCE IN BONE REGENERATION AND DISEASE

Abstract

Bone tissue is known to possess an intrinsic regeneration potential. However, in cases of major injury, trauma, and disease, bone loss is present, and the regeneration potential of the tissue is often impaired. The process of bone regeneration relies on a complex interaction of molecules. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small, non-coding RNAs that inhibit messenger RNAs (mRNA). One miRNA can inhibit several mRNAs and one mRNA can be inhibited by several miRNAs. Functionally, miRNAs regulate the entire proteome via the local inhibition of translation. In fact, miRNA modulation has been shown to be involved in several musculoskeletal diseases1. In those pathologies, they modulate the transcriptional activity of mRNAs important for differentiation, tissue-specific activity, extracellular matrix production, etc. Because of their function in inhibiting translation, miRNAs are being researched in many diseases and are already being used for interventional treatment2. Bone tissue and its related conditions have been widely investigated up to this day1,3. This talk will focus on the relevancy of miRNAs to bone tissue, its homeostasis, and disease. After, examples will be given of how miRNAs can be used in bone regeneration and diseases such as osteoporosis and osteosarcoma. The use of miRNAs in both, detection and therapy will be discussed.