[PERSPECTIVES] MicroRNAs in Mechanical Homeostasis

Jeremy A. Herrera1 and Martin A. Schwartz2 1The Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom 2Yale Cardiovascular Research Center and Departments of Internal Medicine (Cardiology), Cell Biology, and Biomedical Engineering, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven 06511, Connecticut, USA Correspondence: martin.schwartzyale.edu

Mechanical variables such as stiffness, stress, strain, and fluid shear stress are central to tissue functions, thus, must be maintained within the proper range. Mechanics are especially important in the cardiovascular system and lung, the functions of which are essentially mechanical. Mechanical homeostasis is characterized by negative feedback in which deviations from the optimal value or set point activates mechanisms to return the system to the correct range. In chronic diseases, homeostatic mechanisms are generally overcome or replaced with positive feedback loops that promote disease progression. Recent work has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are essential to mechanical homeostasis in a number of biological systems and that perturbations to miRNA biogenesis play key roles in cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. In this review, we integrate current knowledge of miRNAs in mechanical homeostasis and how these mechanisms are altered in disease.

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