Non-coding RNAs and their bioengineering applications for neurological diseases

Abstract

Engineering of cellular biomolecules is an emerging landscape presenting creative therapeutic opportunities. Recently, several strategies such as biomimetic materials, drug-releasing scaffolds, stem cells, and dynamic culture systems have been developed to improve specific biological functions, however, have been confounded with fundamental and technical roadblocks. Rapidly emerging investigations on the bioengineering prospects of mammalian ribonucleic acid (RNA) is expected to result in significant biomedical advances. More specifically, the current trend focuses on devising non-coding (nc) RNAs as therapeutic candidates for complex neurological diseases. Given the pleiotropic and regulatory role, ncRNAs such as microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs are deemed as attractive therapeutic candidates. Currently, the list of non-coding RNAs in mammals is evolving, which presents the plethora of hidden possibilities including their scope in biomedicine. Herein, we critically review on the emerging repertoire of ncRNAs in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, neuroinflammation and drug abuse disorders. Importantly, we present the advances in engineering of ncRNAs to improve their biocompatibility and therapeutic feasibility as well as provide key insights into the applications of bioengineered non-coding RNAs that are investigated for neurological diseases.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Knockdown of small nucleolar RNA host gene 10 (SNHG10) alleviates the injury of human neuroblastoma cells via the miR-1277-5p/insulin substrate receptor 2 axis

“…Previous studies have showed that non-coding RNAs plays important roles in neurological diseases [ 23 ]. Recently many lncRNAs have been implicated in regulation of the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease [ 24 ].…”

Bioengineered miR-34a modulates mitochondrial inner membrane protein 17 like 2 (MPV17L2) expression toward the control of cancer cell mitochondrial functions

“…miRNA functional studies and translational research have been dominated by using chemo-engineered mimics or analogs synthesized in vitro that are literally different from natural miRNA molecules produced and folded in living cells in vivo [ 7 , 31 , 32 , 71 , 72 ]. The new hBERA/miR-34a molecule utilized in the current study was made through in vivo fermentation production, which is a novel RNA bioengineering platform technology permitting large-scale, high-yield, and cost-effective manufacture of miRNA agents [ 28 ].…”

A high level of the long non-coding RNA MCF2L-AS1 is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer and MCF2L-AS1 activates YAP transcriptional activity to enhance breast cancer proliferation and metastasis

“…A key challenge remains the identification of novel predictors of BC progression and the identification of new targets for interventional drug development efforts. Based on their length, non-coding RNAs can be classified as small non-coding RNAs (< 1200 nucleotides) or lncRNAs (> 200 nucleotides) [ 4 , 7 ]. Many recent studies have documented essential roles for lncRNAs as regulators of gene expression at the transcriptional, translational, and epigenetic levels in both physiological and pathogenic situations [ 41 ].…”

“…The emergence of high-throughput sequencing technologies has led to an increasing focus on the biological role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Protein-coding gene sequences make up just 2% of the genome, however, the other 75% is thought to be translated as noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) [ 4 , 5 ]. Long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) are over 200 nucleotides in length and lack protein-coding potential [ 6 ].…”