The development of non-coding RNA ontology

Pathophysiology and Clinical Utility of Non-coding RNAs in Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common neurologic disorder. The underlying pathological processes include synaptic strength, inflammation, ion channels, and apoptosis. Acting as epigenetic factors, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) participate in the regulation of pathophysiologic processes of epilepsy and are dysregulated during epileptogenesis. Aberrant expression of ncRNAs are observed in epilepsy patients and animal models of epilepsy. Furthermore, ncRNAs might also be used as biomarkers for diagnosis and the prognosis of treatment response in epilepsy. In this review, we will summarize the role of ncRNAs in the pathophysiology of epilepsy and the putative utilization of ncRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Co-expression analysis among microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and messenger RNAs to understand the pathogenesis and progression of diabetic kidney disease at the genetic level

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious disease that presents a major health problem worldwide. There is a desperate need to explore novel biomarkers to further facilitate the early diagnosis and effective treatment in DKD patients, thus preventing them from developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, most regulation mechanisms at the genetic level in DKD still remain unclear. In this paper, we describe our innovative methodologies that integrate biological, computational, and statistical approaches to investigate important roles performed by regulations among microRNAs (miRs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in DKD. We conducted fully transparent, rigorously designed experiments. Our robust and reproducible results identified hsa-miR-223-3p as a candidate novel biomarker performing important roles in DKD disease process.