Issues and Prospects of microRNA-Based Biomarkers in Blood and Other Body Fluids
John R. Chevillet(Institute for Systems Biology), Inyoul Lee(Institute for Systems Biology), Hilary Briggs(Rockefeller University), Yuqing He(Guangdong Medical College), Kai Wang(Institute for Systems Biology)
Cited by 123Open Access
Abstract
Cell-free circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in the blood are good diagnostic biomarker candidates for various physiopathological conditions, including cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes and other diseases. Since their discovery in 2008 as blood biomarkers, the field has expanded rapidly with a number of important findings. Despite the initial optimistic views of their potential for clinical application, there are currently no circulating miRNA-based diagnostics in use. In this article, we review the status of circulating miRNAs, examine different analytical approaches, and address some of the challenges and opportunities.