miRNA: Conductors of the body's signaling pathways

The term “microRNA” – abbreviated as miRNA – describes a class of RNA molecules (chemically speaking, ribonucleic acids) that influence signaling pathways in the organism. When the body responds to environmental stimuli or injuries, a highly complex mechanism is set in motion. This is referred to as “signaling pathways” – many events at the level of cells, genes, and proteins come together to form an effective, precisely orchestrated response by the body. Traffic on these signaling pathways is controlled by miRNAs. These molecules can be thought of as traffic cops. And there are many of them: around 2,500 different miRNAs are now known, each controlling specific signaling pathways.

Proteins are important components of such signaling pathways. miRNAs ultimately affect the signaling pathways by influencing the production of proteins (known as gene regulation).

A Nobel Prize for miRNA

The importance of miRNA is demonstrated by two things: First, its discovery was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine. And second, research is increasingly revealing the complexity of the tasks performed by miRNA. A single miRNA can regulate hundreds of genes – but not randomly, rather precisely those that interact in a signaling pathway. 

This is precisely what makes them interesting for science. From a scientific perspective, miRNAs offer the opportunity to detect disease at an early stage – because disease-relevant miRNAs in the blood could serve as “biomarkers.” In addition, therapy could also target miRNAs: this would directly influence the production of helpful or harmful proteins. Researchers are tracking miRNAs in numerous neurodegenerative diseases in order to develop new methods of early detection, for example of dementia.

Hope for early detection and targeted regulation

Work is also being done to measure the so-called cognitive reserve using miRNAs. Memory performance automatically declines with age, so the crucial question is whether the brain is in sufficiently good shape to compensate for these losses. This could also be an important indicator for the early detection of dementia. Research is being conducted at the DZNE sites in Bonn and Göttingen to determine which miRNAs are significant in this regard.