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Review
. 2020 May 22;21(10):3666.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21103666.

A Guide to the Short, Long and Circular RNAs in Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease

Priscilla R Prestes  1 , Michelle C Maier  1 , Bradley A Woods  1 , Fadi J Charchar  1
Affiliations
Review

A Guide to the Short, Long and Circular RNAs in Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease

Priscilla R Prestes et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in adults in developed countries. CVD encompasses many diseased states, including hypertension, coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis. Studies in animal models and human studies have elucidated the contribution of many genetic factors, including non-coding RNAs. Non-coding RNAs are RNAs not translated into protein, involved in gene expression regulation post-transcriptionally and implicated in CVD. Of these, circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs are relevant. CircRNAs are created by the back-splicing of pre-messenger RNA and have been underexplored as contributors to CVD. These circRNAs may also act as biomarkers of human disease, as they can be extracted from whole blood, plasma, saliva and seminal fluid. CircRNAs have recently been implicated in various disease processes, including hypertension and other cardiovascular disease. This review article will explore the promising and emerging roles of circRNAs as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in CVD, in particular hypertension.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; cardiovascular disease; circular RNA; coronary artery disease; heart disease; hypertension; long non-coding RNA; microRNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Non-coding RNA regulation. Legend: mRNA, messenger RNA; lncRNA, long non-coding RNA; miRNA, microRNA; circRNA, circular RNA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Brief characteristics of non-coding RNAs. Legend: bp, base pairs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Biogenesis of mature messenger RNA (mRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) from precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA). Pre-mRNA undergoes RNA splicing to form a mature mRNA or back-splicing to form circRNAs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Circular RNA (circRNA) functions. (A) The upregulation of circRNAs leads to a decrease in microRNA (miRNA) availability, messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation or inhibition, resulting in an increase of protein translation. (B) Conversely, the downregulation of circRNAs leads to more miRNA available and higher levels of mRNA degradation or inhibition, leading to a downregulation in protein translation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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