The novel regulatory role of lnc RNA ‐mi RNA ‐ mRNA axis in cardiovascular diseases

Long noncoding RNA s (lnc RNA s) are RNA s longer than 200 nt in length that are characterized by low levels of sequence conservation and expression; lnc RNA s modulate various biological functions at epigenetic, transcriptional and post‐transcriptional levels, or directly regulate protein activity. As a family of small and evolutionarily conserved noncoding RNA s, micro RNA s (mi RNA s) are capable of regulating physiological and pathological processes via inhibiting target mRNA translation or promoting mRNA degradation. A number of studies have confirmed that both lnc RNA s and mi RNA s are closely associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases ( CVD s), such as cardiac remodelling, heart failure, myocardial injury and arrhythmia, and that they act as biomarkers, potential therapeutic targets or strong indicators of prognosis; however, the underlying molecular mechanism has not been elucidated. Recently, emerging evidence showed that the novel regulatory mechanism underlying the crosstalk among lnc RNA s, mi RNA s and mRNA s plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiological processes of CVD s in response to stress stimuli. In this review, I comprehensively summarized the regulatory relationship of lnc RNA s, mi RNA s and mRNA s and highlighted the important role of the lnc RNA ‐mi RNA ‐ mRNA axis in CVDs.