Abstract
In the past decade, growing interest in micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) has catapulted these small, non-coding nucleic acids to the forefront of biomarker research. Advances in scientific knowledge have made it clear that miRNAs play a vital role in regulating cellular physiology throughout the human body. Perturbations in miRNA signaling have also been described in a variety of pediatric conditions—from cancer, to renal failure, to traumatic brain injury. Likewise, the number of studies across pediatric disciplines that pair patient miRNA-omics with longitudinal clinical data are growing. Analyses of these voluminous, multivariate data sets require understanding of pediatric phenotypic data, data science, and genomics. Use of machine learning techniques to aid in biomarker detection have helped decipher background noise from biologically meaningful changes in the data. Further, emerging research suggests that miRNAs may have potential as therapeutic targets for pediatric precision care. Here, we review current miRNA biomarkers of pediatric diseases and studies that have combined machine learning techniques, miRNA-omics, and patient health data to identify novel biomarkers and potential therapeutics for pediatric diseases.
Impact
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In the following review article, we summarized how recent developments in microRNA research may be coupled with machine learning techniques to advance pediatric precision care.
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No financial assistance was received in support of this work. SDH’s time was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers R61HD105610, R01NS115942, and 4R61HD105610-02 to S.D.H.) and the Gerber Foundation (grant number 5295 to S.D.H.).
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S.D.H., C.L., and R.E.S. had substantial contributions to drafting the manuscript. R.E.S. revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. S.D.H. and D.Z. gave the final approval of the version to be published.
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S.D.H. serves as a scientific advisory board member for Quadrant Biosciences, a biotech company involved in the development of RNA-based diagnostics. Quadrant Biosciences had no role in drafting or editing the proposed review article. S.D.H. is a paid consultant and scientific advisory board member for Quadrant Biosciences. He is named as a co-inventor on intellectual property involving salivary microRNA biomarkers, which has been patented by the Penn State College of Medicine. These entities had no role in the design, analysis, or writing of this manuscript and played no part in the decision to submit this article for publication. All other authors have no conflicts to report.
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Li, C., Sullivan, R.E., Zhu, D. et al. Putting the “mi” in omics: discovering miRNA biomarkers for pediatric precision care. Pediatr Res 93, 316–323 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-022-02206-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-022-02206-5
