Noncoding RNAs, Emerging Regulators of Skeletal Muscle Development and Diseases.

Mao Nie,Jianming Liu,Da-Zhi Wang,Zhong-Liang Deng

doi:10.1155/2015/676575

Abstract

A healthy and independent life requires skeletal muscles to maintain optimal function throughout the lifespan, which is in turn dependent on efficient activation of processes that regulate muscle development, homeostasis, and metabolism. Thus, identifying mechanisms that modulate these processes is of crucial priority. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), have emerged as a class of previously unrecognized transcripts whose importance in a wide range of biological processes and human disease is only starting to be appreciated. In this review, we summarize the roles of recently identified miRNAs and lncRNAs during skeletal muscle development and pathophysiology. We also discuss several molecular mechanisms of these noncoding RNAs. Undoubtedly, further systematic understanding of these noncoding RNAs' functions and mechanisms will not only greatly expand our knowledge of basic skeletal muscle biology, but also significantly facilitate the development of therapies for various muscle diseases, such as muscular dystrophies, cachexia, and sarcopenia.

Highlights

One of the biggest surprises from the human genome project is that, in contrast to large predicted gene numbers, our genome contains only 20,000∼25,000 protein-coding genes, which account for merely ∼1.5% of the whole genome [1]
Through comprehensive analyses of mammalian transcriptomes, a vast amount of non-protein-coding RNAs, including microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, have recently been identified. They are emerging as integral components of the gene regulatory networks in a broad range of biological processes, and dysregulation of their expression has been implicated in many human diseases [2, 3]. miRNAs are a class of small noncoding RNAs that are evolutionarily conserved from plants to mammals
Others and we have found that the miR-1/206 family, comprised of miR-1-1, miR-1-2, and miR206, is capable of promoting myogenesis, in part by inhibiting Pax3/7 in embryonic muscle precursors and satellite cells [33,34,35]

Summary

Introduction

One of the biggest surprises from the human genome project is that, in contrast to large predicted gene numbers, our genome contains only 20,000∼25,000 protein-coding genes, which account for merely ∼1.5% of the whole genome [1]. The recently identified function of miR-31 represents a new mode of miRNA action for regulating satellite cell myogenic activation.

Results

Conclusion