Circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of cardiovascular disease: A systematic review

Figure 1 Schematic of microRNA biogenesis and gene silencing. Primary microRNA (pri-miRNA) is transcribed by RNA polymerase II from DNA. The microprocessor complex, consisting of Drosha and DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8, cleaves pri-miRNA into a hairpin precursor microRNA (miRNA). The hairpin is exported from the nucleus by exportin-5/RAN-GTP. In the cytoplasm, RNase III endoribonuclease TRBP generate a miRNA duplex. The duplex unwinds, and the mature strand associates with the RNA-induced silencing complex, which directs translational repression or mRNA target cleavage. RISC: RNA-induced silencing complex; miRNA: MicroRNA; Pri-miRNA: Primary microRNA.

Figure 2 A PRISMA diagram summarizing the search strategy. CVD: Cardiovascular disease; miRNA: MicroRNA.

Figure 3 Overview of the systematic review workflow for circulating microRNAs in cardiovascular disease. A: Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) release circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) into the blood. Eligible studies were identified through database searches of PubMed and CENTRAL, followed by screening and final study selection; B: Data from the 34 included studies were extracted, processed, and categorized by CVD phenotype, with representative miRNAs listed for each category. The characteristics of the included studies. Created in BioRender (Supplementary material).