Exosomal MicroRNA: Diagnostic Marker and Therapeutic Tool for Lung Diseases.

Lung diseases are common clinical illnesses with high morbidity and mortality, which seriously threaten human health. In recent years, increasing evidence suggests that exosomes play a pivotal role in intercellular communication by delivering their cargo to pulmonary target cells, such as microRNAs. Physiologically, exosomes have been shown to be a critical mediator in maintaining homeostasis function in the complex thin-walled lung tissue and airway structure. Apart from being a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, exosomes also participate in the progression of some lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, acute lung injury, lung cancer, interstitial lung disease, and tuberculosis. Here, we summarize the recent findings on the involvement of exosomes and exosomal microRNAs in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapy of lung diseases, aiming to provide more information to discover novel diagnostic methods and treatment strategies for these disorders.

Regulation of Electrolyte Permeability by Herbal Monomers in Edematous Disorders.

Edema is a gradual accumulation of fluid in the interstitial tissues or luminal cavities, which is regulated by ion transport pathways and reflects dysfunction of fluid and salt homeostasis. Increasing evidence suggests that some herbal monomers significantly reduce organ/tissue edema. In this review, we briefly summarized the electrolyte permeability involved in pathomechanisms of organ edema, and the benefits of herbal monomers on ionic transport machinery, including Na+-K+-ATPase, Na+ and Cl- channels, Na+-K+-2Cl- co-transporter, etc. Pharmaceutical relevance is implicated in developing advanced strategies to mitigate edematous disorders. In conclusion, the natural herbal monomers regulate electrolyte permeability in many edematous disorders, and further basic and clinical studies are needed.

MiRNA, a New Treatment Strategy for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is the most common chronic, progressive interstitial lung disease, mainly occurring in the elderly, with a median survival of 2-4 years after diagnosis. Its high mortality rate attributes to the delay in diagnosis due to its generic symptoms, and more importantly, to the lack of effective treatments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are involved in many essential cellular processes, including extracellular matrix remodeling, alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, etc. We summarized the dysregulated miRNAs in TGF-ß signaling pathway-mediated PF in recent years with dual effects, such as anti-fibrotic let-7 family and pro-fibrotic miR-21 members. Therefore, this review will set out the latest application of miRNAs to provide a new direction for PF treatment.