The double strandedness of the RNA duplex configuration is believed to be essential for the efficient loading of the miR guide strand into the RISC complex.

In order to increase stability and improve cellular uptake of the miR duplex, it is formulated with lipid nanoparticles (LNPs).18 To date, the LNP-mediated delivery of an RNA duplex limits its tissue distribution primarily to the liver (including hepatic stellate cells). The characteristics of an LNP-enclosed miR-29 mimic render liver fibrosis an attractive disease indication for the initial clinical proof of experiments. It is believed that similar underlying mechanisms are involved in the development of fibrosis in different organs. Further advances in oligonucleotide delivery technology will enable the evaluation of whether an miR-29 mimic could be an effective

therapy for fibrotic conditions of other organs. ECM, extracellular matrix; LNP. selleck lipid nanoparticle; miR, microRNA; miRNA, microRNA; mRNA, messenger; RNA, pre-miR; precursor microRNA; pri-miR, primary microRNA transcript; RISC, RNA interference-induced silencing complex; TGF-β, transforming growth factor β “
“We read with great interest the meta-analysis by Wang et al.,1 who evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the staging of hepatic fibrosis. The authors concluded that MRE is more reliable for staging hepatic fibrosis. This is a significant contribution to our knowledge, as recent NVP-BGJ398 supplier advances in MRI techniques have made the use of these methods common in clinical practice. In our opinion, attention must also be focused on several technical parameters of MRI methods before physicians can safely interpret the results. The standard MRI scanners currently use a 1.5-Tesla magnetic field. This is also the type of scanner that was used in all the studies included in the meta-analysis by Wang et al. Theoretically, new-generation 3-Tesla scanners could enhance the ability for hepatic fibrosis staging. Especially for DWI, another vital parameter is the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and its b value. ADC reflects diffusion in a MCE公司 quantitative

way and b value illustrates the sensitivity of a DWI sequence. The higher the b value, the more sensitive the sequence is to diffusion effects.2 Conflicting results have been published on the optimal b value for hepatic fibrosis staging.3 This was also remarkably reflected in the great variation of b values used in the studies of the meta-analysis. We recently presented our preliminary results on hepatic fibrosis staging in a small cohort of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using a 3-Tesla MRI scanner.4 DWI was performed in the axial plane with tridirectional diffusion gradients using three b values: 0, 500, and 1000 s/mm2. Fibrosis stage was poorly associated with ADC at a b value of 500 s/mm2 (r = −0.30, P = 0.27).