Eczema Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Eczema, including details on dermatitis, skin rashes, medication, treatment, causes, creams.

MicroRNAs: novel regulators in skin inflammation.

Sonkoly E, Ståhle M, Pivarcsi A

Molecular Dermatology Research Group, Unit of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Compelling evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs), short, non-protein coding RNAs, are critical for the development and survival of multicellular organisms. Recently, miRNAs were implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and atopic eczema (AE), the two most common chronic inflammatory disorders in skin. In particular, miR-203, the first skin-specific miRNA, showing an intriguing expression profile being confined to skin epithelium, is specifically overexpressed in psoriasis. MiR-146a, another miRNA showing specific upregulation in psoriasis, is involved in the regulation of innate immune responses and the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha pathway. Interestingly, miR-125b, another miRNA involved in the TNF-alpha pathway, is also deregulated in psoriasis and AE. As skin inflammation may serve as a model for chronic inflammatory disorders, it is likely that miRNAs involved in skin inflammation will eventually emerge in other inflammatory or autoimmune disorders, and some of these may become disease markers and therapeutic targets. In this review we present an overview of what is currently known about the roles of miRNAs in chronic inflammatory skin disorders.

Published 18 April 2008 in Clin Exp Dermatol, 33(3): 312-5.
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