The role of MicroRNAs on endoplasmic reticulum stress in myocardial ischemia and cardiac hypertrophy

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site of production and folding of secreted, membrane bound and some organelle targeted proteins. Accumulation of misfolded or unfolded proteins in the ER makes cells undergo a stress response known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). UPR is initially protective. However, prolonged and severe ER stress can lead to the induction of apoptosis in stressed cells. Cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial ischemia accounts for substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Accumulating evidence suggests that aberrant cardiac cell death caused by ER stress is often associated with structural or functional cardiac abnormalities. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that mediate posttranscriptional gene silencing. The miRNAs play important roles in regulating cardiac physiological and pathological events such as hypertrophy, apoptosis, and heart failure. In this review, we discussed the role of microRNAs on Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in myocardial ischemia and cardiac hypertrophy to demonstrate the relation between microRNAs and the ER in cardiac cells providing potential new treatment strategies and improvement of survival.