AUTHOR=Surina , Fontanella Rosaria Anna , Scisciola Lucia , Marfella Raffaele , Paolisso Giuseppe , Barbieri Michelangela TITLE=miR-21 in Human Cardiomyopathies JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2021.767064 DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2021.767064 ISSN=2297-055X ABSTRACT=

miR-21 is a 22-nucleotide long microRNA that matches target mRNAs in a complementary base pairing fashion and regulates gene expression by repressing or degrading target mRNAs. miR-21 is involved in various cardiomyopathies, including heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, myocardial infarction, and diabetic cardiomyopathy. Expression levels of miR-21 notably change in both heart and circulation and provide cardiac protection after heart injury. In the meantime, miR-21 also tightly links to cardiac dysfunctions such as cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. This review focuses on the miR-21 expression pattern and its functions in diseased-heart and further discusses the feasibility of miR-21 as a biomarker and therapeutic target in cardiomyopathies.