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Advances in MicroRNAs in Pathophysiology of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Jose Emilio Galeazzi Aguilar

Jose Emilio Galeazzi Aguilar

Laboratorio de Nutrición Molecular, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Nutrición, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México

Posgrado en Ciencias Biomédiicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México

Contribution: ​Investigation, Visualization, Writing - review & editing

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Tomas Almeida-Becerril

Tomas Almeida-Becerril

Laboratorio de Nutrición Molecular, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Nutrición, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México

Contribution: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original draft

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Maricela Rodríguez-Cruz

Corresponding Author

Maricela Rodríguez-Cruz

Laboratorio de Nutrición Molecular, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Nutrición, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México

Correspondence:

Maricela Rodríguez-Cruz ([email protected])

Contribution: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing - review & editing

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First published: 18 July 2025

Funding: This study was supported by a CONAHCYT fellowship (CVU 1170308).

Jose Emilio Galeazzi Aguilar and Tomas Almeida-Becerril equal contributions to this work.

ABSTRACT

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe, progressive muscle disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the DMD gene, which encodes dystrophin, a protein essential for maintaining muscle integrity. Reduced or absent dystrophin expression results in sarcolemmal instability, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, impaired muscle regeneration, and fibrosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally and significantly influence multiple pathological processes in DMD. Specific miRNAs, including miR-146a, miR-155, miR-378, and miR-711, modulate inflammation primarily through the NF-κB signaling pathway. Others, such as miR-21, miR-31, miR-128, miR-144, and miR-379, regulate oxidative stress responses via the NRF2 antioxidant pathway. Muscle-specific miRNAs (myomiRs), notably miR-1, miR-133a/b, miR-206, miR-486, and miR-499, are critical for muscle regeneration, and their dysregulation impairs satellite cell function and muscle repair. Additionally, miRNAs such as miR-21, miR-29a/c, and miR-199a-5p play significant roles in fibrosis development. The dysregulation of these miRNAs contributes to the complex pathophysiology of DMD, underscoring their potential as biomarkers for disease progression and therapeutic response. Understanding the specific roles of these miRNAs provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying DMD and may facilitate the identification of novel therapeutic targets.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The authors have nothing to report.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.

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