For Immediate Release
MicroRNAs Identified as Novel Targets for Treating Asthma
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, June 24, 2016 – A new study shows that microRNAs, which are small, noncoding RNA molecules that can silence genes, have an important role in inducing asthma. Regulating the function of specific miRNAs identified in the study could represent a new approach to asthma therapy, according to an article inStem Cells and Development, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Stem Cells and Development website.
In "MicroRNAs Involved in Asthma Following Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment," Guan-Nan Tang and coauthors from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, examined the changing levels of miRNAs in a mouse model of asthma following the induction of asthma and after a transplant of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). The BM-MSCs alleviate asthma-related airway inflammation. The researchers identified a series of miRNAs that had different expression levels after asthma induction and BM-MSC treatment.
“This exciting convergent work provides not only a model for revealing novel discoveries in disease pathogenesis, but also proposes the miR21-Acvr2a axis as a critical regulator of the therapeutic effect of MSC in asthma,” says Editor-in-Chief Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI.
About the Journal
Stem Cells and Development is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online. The Journal is dedicated to communication and objective analysis of developments in the biology, characteristics, and therapeutic utility of stem cells, especially those of the hematopoietic system. A complete table of contents and free sample issue may be viewed on the Stem Cells and Development website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cellular Reprogramming, Tissue Engineering, and Human Gene Therapy. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.