MiR-21, miR- 31, and miR-155 are of particular interest owing to their important involvement in both SSc vasculopathy and fibroproliferative alterations.
We focused our attention on miRNAs already found upregulated in SSc such as miR-21-5p, miR-92a-3p, and on miR-155-5p, miR 126-3p and miR-16-5p known to be deregulated in malignancies associated to SSc, i.e., breast, lung, and hematological malignancies. miR-21-5p, miR-92a-3p, miR-155-5p, and miR-16-5p expression was significantly higher in SSc sera compared to healthy controls.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a pro-fibrotic condition with a poorly understood aetiology.Evidence presented by Artlett et al. in this issue suggests that the microRNA miR-155 is key, with its involvement dependent on the NLRP3 inflammasome.
miR-155 is upregulated in SSc.These results suggest that the inflammasome promotes the expression of miR-155 and that miR-155 is a critical miRNA that drives fibrosis.