Resumen

LAMADRID-ROMERO, Mario; DIAZ-MARTINEZ, Fabián  y  MOLINA-HERNANDEZ, Anayansi. MicroRNA: a tool that can be used as a fetal corticogenesis biomarker. Perinatol. Reprod. Hum. [online]. 2014, vol.28, n.3, pp.146-153. ISSN 2524-1710.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the translation of messenger RNA into proteins. During the development of the mammalian brain tissue, there is a temporal regulation of the levels of these molecules, which are directly related to specific stages in the formation of the central nervous system; microRNAs play a major role in brain cytoarchitecture. There are multiple alterations in brain function that cannot be explained by genetic causes or detected by conventional methods; for this reason, it is very important to identify molecules that can be proposed as biomarkers in a noninvasive way for pathologies related to alterations upon cell differentiation, proliferation and death or brain tissue organization that may have negative consequences in postnatal life and that can potentially lead to cognitive, motor and social deficits. An alternative is determining the microRNA levels involved in fetal corticogenesis in the maternal serum. In this article, we review some characteristics of these molecules that make them candidates to be proposed as biomarkers of fetal brain development, such as the pathway throught which they are synthesized and released into the bloodstream, their stability, their expression pattern during corticogenesis and their presence in the maternal serum.

Palabras llave : MicroRNA; biomarker; fetal corticogenesis; maternal serum.

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