%0 Journal Article
%T Specific Roles of MicroRNAs in Their Interactions with Environmental Factors
%A Juan Wang
%A Qinghua Cui
%J Journal of Nucleic Acids
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/978384
%X MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of gene expression by modulating numerous target mRNAs expression at posttranscriptional level. Extensive studies have shown that miRNAs are critical in various important biological processes, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, development, and apoptosis. In terms of their importance, miRNA dysfunction has been associated with a broad range of diseases. Increased number of studies have shown that miRNAs can functionally interact with a wide spectrum of environmental factors (EFs) including drugs, industrial materials, virus and bacterial pathogens, cigarette smoking, alcohol, nutrition, sleep, exercise, stress, and radiation. More importantly, the interactions between miRNAs and EFs have been shown to play critical roles in determining abnormal phenotypes and diseases. In this paper, we propose an outline of the current knowledge about specific roles of miRNAs in their interactions with various EFs and analyze the literatures detailing miRNAs-EFs interactions in the context of various of diseases. 1. Introduction MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory RNAs that are 20¨C30 nucleotides long that bind the 3¡ä-untranslated regions of target mRNAs [1¨C3]. miRNAs have emerged as critical regulators of gene expression by modulating the expression of numerous target mRNAs mainly at the posttranscriptional level [4]. Since partial or imperfect complementarity of an miRNA to a target mRNA can lead to translational repression, a single miRNA has the ability of regulating a large number of genes [5]. miRNAs have been shown to play a role in regulating a wide range of biological processes, such as cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, development, and apoptosis [6]. In terms of their importance, dysfunction of miRNAs has been associated with various diseases [7¨C9]. In contrast to the wealth of publications about their biological effects, the information about specific regulations of miRNAs has comparatively lagged behind. The phenotype of an organism is determined by the complex interactions between genetic factors (GFs) and environmental factors (EFs). EFs have been shown to contribute tremendously to the formation and development of many diseases, especially complex diseases [10¨C12]. The interactions between GFs and EFs, often hypothesized to be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, modulate the reproductive fitness of an organism, its response to external stimuli and health [13]. Similar to other GFs, miRNAs have complex interactions with a wide spectrum of EFs [14]. Recently, increased number
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jna/2012/978384/