MicroRNAs as New Regulators of Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation

Abstract

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are formed after neutrophils expelled their chromatin content in order to primarily capture and eliminate pathogens. However, given their characteristics due in part to DNA and different granular proteins, NETs may induce a procoagulant response linking inflammation and thrombosis. Unraveling NET formation molecular mechanisms as well as the intracellular elements that regulate them is relevant not only for basic knowledge but also to design diagnostic and therapeutic tools that may prevent their deleterious effects observed in several inflammatory pathologies (e.g., cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, cancer). Among the potential elements involved in NET formation, several studies have investigated the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as important regulators of this process. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that have been involved in the control of almost all physiological processes in animals and plants and that are associated with the development of several pathologies. In this review, we give an overview of the actual knowledge on NETs and their implication in pathology with a special focus in cardiovascular diseases. We also give a brief overview on miRNA biology to later focus on the different miRNAs implicated in NET formation and the perspectives opened by the presented data.