MiRNAs in peripheral artery disease - something gripping this way comes.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a marker disease for generalized atherosclerosis and represents one of the world's major causes of morbidity and mortality. Many studies have tried to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in PAD onset, progression and prognosis. In the last decade, small non-coding RNAs, termed miRNAs, have emerged as a major research focus due to their regulating function of multiple gene sets. In the cardiovascular system, miRNAs not only impact on physiological pathways like cardiac development and angiogenesis, but also play an important role in disease mechanisms and progression of myocardial hypertrophy, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure or arrhythmias. New insights lend considerable support to the concept of miRNAs serving as highly sensitive biomarkers and therapeutic targets. To date, a comprehensive understanding of miRNA regulation of angiogenesis and maintenance of vascular integrity in PAD remains less explored. In this review, we discuss current studies and highlight the potential of miRNAs not only to act as a diagnostic tool, but also to facilitate innovative strategies for gene therapy.