Stressing Out Over miRNA

Two papers, one published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ¹ and the other in Nature Immunology,² identify several microRNAs that play a role in cellular stress triggered by myocardial infarction or viral infection and tumorigenesis. Although both papers provide potential new targets, hurdles such as proper therapeutic design and delivery remain to be cleared.

The studies illustrate two different methods by which miRNAs can regulate cellular processes. The research in PNAS shows how a single miRNA regulates the expression of a family of functionally related proteins, whereas theNature Immunology research shows how multiple miRNAs regulate expression of two functionally related genes...