MicroRNA maturation and human disease.

Numerous studies describe alterations in the levels of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) that are associated with human pathologies. Some of these alterations may give rise to the development of novel diagnostic tools, while certain miRNAs additionally could serve as novel drug targets. Moreover, components of the miRNA maturation machinery may be up- or down-regulated in human disease. In such cases, the consequences for the expression of individual miRNAs are however only poorly understood. Herein, we review the current knowledge of how miRNAs are linked to human disease and which parts of the miRNA maturation machinery could serve as future drug targets.