Mesenchymal stem cell-derived microRNAs: Key immunomodulators to prevent ocular tissue degeneration

Table 4 Effect of mesenchymal stem cell-derived microRNAs in age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma

Type of MSC	MiRNA	Target	Expression pattern	Function	Ref.
Mouse bone marrow-MSC	MiR-21a-5p	PDCD4	Upregulated	Promoted RGC survival	Su et al[100]
Rat bone marrow-MSCs	MiR-21	PDCD4	Upregulated	Maintained photoreceptor survival by targeting PDCD4 to inhibit apoptosis	Deng et al[87]
TNF-α-stimulated gingival MSC	MiR-21-5p	PDCD4	Upregulated	Increased retinal cell viability and neuroinflammation in vitro, prevented the apoptosis and inflammation of retina	Yu et al[101]
Human bone marrow-MSC	MiR-144-5p, miR-126-5p, and miR-100-5p	-	Upregulated	Increased neuroprotection and functional preservation of RGC	Mead et al[98]
Human bone marrow-MSC	MiR-17–5p, miR-30c-2 and miR-92a; miR-92a, miR-292 and miR-182	PTEN	Upregulated	Protected RGCs and their axons from degeneration and dysfunction through PTEN knockdown	Mead and Tomarev[99]
Human umbilical cord-MSC	MiR-27-b	HOXC6	Upregulated	Inhibited TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting HOXC6 and attenuated subretinal fibrosis	Li et al[89]
Human umbilical cord-MSC	MiR-146a	Nr43a	Upregulated	Significantly decreased the expression of LPS-induced pro inflammatory cytokines	Zhang et al[88]
Human umbilical cord-MSC	MiR-22-3p	MAPK312	Upregulated	Ameliorated NMDA-induced RGC injury through the inhibition of MAPK signaling pathway-mediated apoptosis	Yu et al[102]

HOXC6: Homeobox C6; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; MAPK: Mitogen-activated protein kinase; miRNA: MicroRNA; MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell; NMDA: N-methyl-D-aspartic acid; PDCD4: Programmed cell death 4; PTEN: Phosphatase and tensin homolog; RGC: Retinal ganglion cell; TGF: Transforming growth factor; TNF: Tumor necrosis factor.