With the increasing understanding of various disease-related noncoding RNAs, ncRNAs are emerging as novel drugs and drug targets. Nucleic acid drugs based on different types of noncoding RNAs have been designed and tested. Chemical modification has been applied to noncoding RNAs such as siRNA or miRNA to increase the resistance to degradation with minimum influence on their biological function. Chemical biological methods have also been developed to regulate relevant noncoding RNAs in the occurrence of various diseases. New strategies such as designing ribonuclease targeting chimeras to degrade endogenous noncoding RNAs are emerging as promising approaches to regulate gene expressions, serving as next-generation drugs. This review summarized the current state of noncoding RNA-based theranostics, major chemical modifications of noncoding RNAs to develop nucleic acid drugs, conjugation of RNA with different functional biomolecules as well as design and screening of potential molecules to regulate the expression or activity of endogenous noncoding RNAs for drug development. Finally, strategies of improving the delivery of noncoding RNAs are discussed.

• RIBOTAC
• RNA regulating molecules
• chemical modification
• noncoding RNA
• therapeutics

Lung cancer is a well-known malignant tumor of the respiratory tract, which has caused a significant level of damage to human health in the 21st century. Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are tiny, non-coding RNA stem-loop structures with a length of roughly 20–25 nucleotides that function as powerful modulators of mRNA and protein products of a gene. miRNAs may modulate many biological processes involving growth, differentiation, proliferation, and cell death and play a key role in the pathogenesis of various types of malignancies. Several accumulating pieces of evidence have proven that miRNA, especially miR-146a, are crucial modulators of innate immune response sequences. A novel and exciting cancer research field has involved miRNA for the detection and suppression of cancer. However, the actual mechanism which is adopted by these miRNA is still unclear. miRNAs have been used as a cancer-associated biomarker in several studies, suggesting their altered expression in various cancers compared to the normal cells. The amount of expression of miRNA can also be used to determine the stage of the disease, aiding in early detection. In breast, pancreatic, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastric cancer, cancer cell proliferation and metastasis has been suppressed by miR-146a. Changes in miR-146a expression levels have biomarker importance and possess a high potential as a therapeutic target in lung cancer. It retards epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promotes the therapeutic action of anticancer agents in lung cancer. Studies have also suggested that miR-146a affects gene expression through different signaling pathways viz. TNF-α, NF-κB and MEK-1/2, and JNK-1/2. Further research is required for understanding the molecular mechanisms of miR-146a in lung cancer. The potential role of miR-146a as a diagnostic marker of lung cancer must also be analyzed. This review summarizes the tumor-suppressing, anti-inflammatory, and antichemoresistive nature of miR-146a in lung cancer.

• biomarker
• clinical pathology
• lung cancer
• miR-146a

• Microrna
• microRNA network
• small molecule
• therapeutics

• microRNA
• multi-functional peptide conjugate
• nanocomplex
• real-time imaging
• targeted delivery

A photo-clickable microRNA was constructed for in situ fluorescence labeling and imaging of microRNA in living cells with spatiotemporal resolution.

A dual-functional supramolecular hydrogel was developed for light-controlled release of miRNA and target-mediated delivery of miRNA into cells.

• microRNA
• probe
• regulation
• small molecule
• therapeutic

Cardiovascular disease has been the leading cause of death worldwide for the last few decades. Even with the rapid progression of the biomedical field, conquering/managing cardiovascular disease is not an easy task because it is multifactorial disease. One of the key players of the development and progression of numerous diseases is microRNA (miRNA). These small, non-coding RNAs bind to target mRNAs to inhibit translations of and/or degrade the target mRNAs, thus acting as negative regulators of gene expressions. Accumulating evidence indicates that non-physiological expressions of miRNAs contribute to both development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. Since even a single miRNA can have multiple targets, dysregulation of miRNAs can lead to catastrophic changes of proteins that may be important for maintaining physiologic conditions of cells, tissues, and organs. Current knowledge on the role of miRNAs in cardiovascular disease is mostly based on the observational data such as microarray of miRNAs in animal disease models, thus relatively lacking insight of how such dysregulation of miRNAs is initiated and regulated. Consequently, future research should aim to elucidate the more comprehensive mechanisms of miRNA dysregulation during pathogenesis of the cardiovascular system so that appropriate counter-measures to prevent/manage cardiovascular disease can be developed.

• Cardiovascular diseases
• MicroRNA
• Heart
• Endothelial cells
• Smooth muscle cells

A supramolecular hydrogel serves as both 3D culture medium for live cells and a carrier for microRNA delivery.