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Therapeutic and Diagnostic Potential of microRNAs in Vascular Cognitive Impairment

Journal of Molecular Neuroscience volume 70, pages 1619–1628 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is the second most common type of dementia that accounts for 15 to 30%. To date, VCI still lacks an effective therapeutic strategy and an objective diagnostic tool. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that control gene expression at the post-translational level, playing an essential role in the pathogenesis of VCI. Moreover, accumulating evidence has indicated that miRNAs could be used as therapeutic strategies and diagnostic biomarkers of diseases. In this review, we summarize various mechanisms of miRNA-based therapeutics and candidate miRNAs for clinical diagnosis in VCI. Results showed that miRNAs participate in VCI via different mechanisms, including neuronal death, inflammation, oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier permeability, and synaptic translation. Circulating miRNAs of VCI have been detected in serum, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid with various diagnostic power. Taking together, miRNAs are a potential biomarker for being a therapeutic agent and a diagnostic tool of VCI.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

VCI:

Vascular cognitive impairment

VaD:

Vascular dementia

PSCI:

Post-stroke cognitive impairment

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

PSCN:

Post-stroke cognitive normality

CCH:

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion

BCAO:

Bilateral carotid artery occlusion

BCAS:

Bilateral carotid artery stenosis

MCAO:

Middle cerebral artery occlusion

ICH:

Intracerebral hemorrhage

miRNAs:

MicroRNAs

I/R:

Ischemic and refusion

MCAO/R:

MCAO and refusion

LC-3:

Protein 1 light chain 3

LAMP2:

Lysosomal-associated membrane protein-2

TLR4:

Toll-like receptor 4

PGC-1α:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

Drp1:

Dynamin-related protein-1

pDrp1:

Phospho-Drp1

LTP:

Long-term potentiation

LTD:

Long-term depression

Nav1.1 and Nav1.2:

Voltage-gated sodium channel alpha subunit 1 and 2

MeCP2:

Methyl cytidine-phosphate-guanosine binding protein 2

NF-L:

Neurofilament light

NMDA:

N-methyl-D-aspartate

NR1:

NMDA receptor 1

TRIM2:

Tripartite motif 2

BBB:

Blood-brain barrier

TJ:

Tight junction

ZO-1:

Tight-junction protein 1

MMP-9:

Matrix metalloproteinase-9

ET-1:

Enthothelin-1

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

MoCA:

Montreal Cognitive Assessment

ROC:

Receiver operating characteristic

AUC:

Area under curve

HUVEC:

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells

NOR:

Novel object recognition

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Funding

This study was supported by the Scientific Research Projects of Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau in China, No.201940031(to XB), and the Leading Personnel Training Project of Shanghai Pudong New District Municipal Health Bureau in China, No. PWR1201804 (to XB).

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Affiliations

  1. Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, China

    Mei Yuan

  2. Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences Affiliated Zhoupu Hospital, Shanghai, 201318, China

    Xia Bi

Authors
  1. Mei Yuan
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  2. Xia Bi
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Database research and manuscript drafting, MY, and manuscript revision, XB. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xia Bi.

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Yuan, M., Bi, X. Therapeutic and Diagnostic Potential of microRNAs in Vascular Cognitive Impairment. J Mol Neurosci 70, 1619–1628 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01597-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01597-6

Keywords

  • Vascular cognitive impairment
  • microRNA
  • Mechanism
  • Diagnosis