Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which controls permeability into and out of the nervous system, is a tightly connected, structural, and functional separation between the central nervous system (CNS) and circulating blood. CNS diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke, meningitis, and brain cancers, often develop with the increased BBB permeability and further leads to irreversible CNS injury. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are functional RNA molecules that generally lack the coding abilities but can actively regulate the mRNA expression and function through different mechanisms. Various types of ncRNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are highly expressed in brain microvascular endothelial cells and are potential mediators of BBB permeability. Here, we summarized the recent research progress on miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA roles regulating the BBB permeability in different CNS diseases. Understanding how these ncRNAs affect the BBB permeability shall provide important therapeutic insights into the prevention and control of the BBB dysfunction.

摘要

控制进出神经系统的通透性的血脑屏障 (BBB) 是中枢神经系统 (CNS) 和循环血液之间紧密连接的结构和功能分离。中枢神经系统疾病，如阿尔茨海默病、多发性硬化症、创伤性脑损伤、中风、脑膜炎和脑癌，通常随着血脑屏障通透性增加而发展，并进一步导致不可逆的中枢神经系统损伤。非编码 RNA (ncRNA) 是功能性 RNA 分子，通常缺乏编码能力，但可以通过不同的机制主动调节 mRNA 的表达和功能。各种类型的 ncRNA，包括 microRNA (miRNA)、长 ncRNA (lncRNA) 和环状 RNA (circRNA)，在脑微血管内皮细胞中高度表达，是 BBB 通透性的潜在介质。这里，我们总结了最近关于 miRNA、lncRNA 和 circRNA 在不同中枢神经系统疾病中调节 BBB 通透性的研究进展。了解这些 ncRNA 如何影响 BBB 通透性将为预防和控制 BBB 功能障碍提供重要的治疗见解。