微小RNA与牙周炎

Roles of microRNAs in periodontitis

近十年,一类非编码蛋白的小RNA分子——微小RNA(miRNAs)证实参与免疫细胞发育以及多种疾病如肿瘤、炎症等生理和病理过程。而牙周炎作为危害人类口腔健康的常见慢性炎症,其发病机制的研究尚有不确切之处,也未能找到十分有效的治疗方法。近年,学者开始对牙周炎及miRNAs两者间的关系开展研究,以探索miRNAs参与牙周炎的发病机制。本文根据miRNAs与牙周炎研究的最新进展,就其在牙周组织及牙槽骨组织中异常表达及可能机制两方面作一综述。

In the recent decade, microRNAs （miRNAs）, a kind of small non-coding ribonucleic acid （RNA） molecules, had been confirmed to play a certain role in various physiological processes like the development of immune cells. MiRNAs expression has been shown to affect the pathobiology of several diseases such as cancer and inflammatory diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Nevertheless, the expression of miRNAs in periodontal tissues and their potential function in the context of the pathobiology of periodontal diseases are largely unexplored. Recently, studies have been done to explore the relationship between periodontitis and miRNAs in order to find out the influence of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. This article expounds the latest progress on researches of miRNAs and periodontitis, focusing on the differential expression of miRNAs in periodontal tissue and alveolar bone tissue. The possible mechanism of periodontitis which is regulated by miRNAs is also discussed.