Regulation of Gene Expression by Exercise-Related Micrornas

Abstract

Gene expression control by microRNAs (miRs) is an important mechanism for maintenance of cellular homeostasis in physiological and pathological conditions as well as in response to different stimuli including nutritional factors and exercise. MiRs are involved in regulation of several processes such as growth and development, fuel metabolism, insulin secretion, immune function, miocardium remodeling, cell proliferation, differenciation, survival, and death. These molecules have also been proposed to be potential biomarkers and/or therapeutical targets in obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. MiRs are released by most cells and potentially act on intercellular communication to borderer or distant cells. Various studies have been performed to elucidate the involvement of miRs in exercise-induced effects. The aims of this review are: 1) to bring up the main advances for the comprehension of the mechanisms of action of miRs; 2) to present the main results on miR involvement in physical exercise; 3) to discuss the physiological effects of miRs modified by exercise. The state of the art and the perspectives on miRs associated with physical exercise will be presented. Thus, this review is important for updating recent advances and driving further strategies and studies on the exercise-related miR research.

Muscle stem cell and physical activity: what point is the debate at?

“…A recent review by Masi et al (2016) [28] reports the gene expression regulations by exercise-related miRs. Possible miRs targets have been suggested as well: 1) signaling pathways regulated by Calcium, AMP and PKD; 2) class IIa histone deacetylases; 3) muscle specific transcription factors (i.e.…”

PIWI Proteins and PIWI-Interacting RNA: Emerging Roles in Cancer

“…Unlike stem-loop or double-stranded precursors of miRNAs and siRNAs that are processed by the RNAse III Dicer, piRNAs are mostly transcribed as large (up to 200 kb) single-stranded precursors, which are processed independently from Dicer ribonuclease [28-30]. There are no significant secondary structures of the stem-loop structures in piRNAs precursors detected in regions surrounding piRNAs which is different from miRNAs [31-33]. And piRNAs also don’t show any phasing within a cluster sequence or overlap with each other like siRNAs [34].…”

The Management of Cardiovascular Risk through Epigenetic Biomarkers

“…As miRNAs are potential biomarkers in type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, they have also been proposed to monitor the physiological effects of exercise in the general population [44]. For example, miR-146a and miR-221 levels were decreased and miR-149 ∗ was increased after acute exercise [17], whereas endurance exercise altered the expression of miR-1, miR-133, and miR-206 [19].…”

“…The biogenesis and molecular mechanism of action of miRNAs and lncRNAs have been described in greater detail in other reviews [26, 33, 44, 45]. According to recent databases 56018 and 46475 lncRNA genes have been, respectively, found for human and mouse.…”

“…They also have high tissular specificity and are not evolutionarily conserved. lncRNA can act as decoy for microRNA to allow microRNAs' target mRNA to escape from degradation (reviewed by [44]). The use of lncRNAs as innovative biomarkers in the field is still in its infancy compared to the miRNA field.…”