Role of micro RNA involved in Diabetes Mellitus

Micro RNAs (miRNAs), a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs in eukaryotes that regulate cellular transcriptome at the posttranscriptional level has been recognized. More than 2000 miRNAs have been identified in the human genomes that have orchestrated a variety of biological and pathological processes. Disruption of miRNA levels correlates with many diseases, including diabetes mellitus, a complex multi-factorial metabolic disorder affecting large number of people worldwide. MiRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus by affecting pancreatic β-cell functions, insulin resistance, or both. The altered miRNAs are involved in the core processes associated with diabetes such as carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms, insulin signaling pathway and the adipocytokine signaling pathway. This dysregulated miRNAs in different tissues during development of diabetes provides molecular insights to diagnostic and/or therapeutic utilities in diabetes mellitus. In this review, the investigations of the regulatory roles of important miRNAs in pancreas has been discussed that can be used to treat diabetes mellitus.