Title

Can microRNAs act as biomarkers of aging? 

Authors

Luv Kashyap*

Affiliation

Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3471 5th Ave., Suite 500, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 

Email

luvkashyap@gmail.com; *Corresponding author  

Article Type

Views & Challenges

Date

Received November 24, 2010; Accepted December 18, 2010; Published February 07, 2011
 

Aging can be defined as a progressive decline in physiological efficiency regulated by an extremely complex multifactorial process. The genetic makeup of an individual appears to dictate this rate of aging in a species specific manner. For decades now, scientists have tried to look for tiny signatures or signs which might help us predict this rate of aging. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a unique class of short, non-coding RNAs that mediate the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression ranging from developmental processes to disease induction or amelioration. Recently, they have also been implicated to have a role in aging in C.elegans. Based on the fact that there is a considerable similarity between aging in C.elegans and humans, these recent findings might suggest a possible role of miRNAs as bio-markers of aging. This mini-review brushes through the possibilities towards this direction.  

Keywords

Aging, microRNAs, bio-markers, C.elegans.

Citation

Kashyap. Bioinformation 5(9): 396-397 (2011)

Edited by

PN Pushparaj

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.