Circulating microRNAs in Disease Diagnostics and their Potential Biological Relevance

MicroRNAs as the endogenous mediators of RNA interference have experienced an unprecedented career in recent years, highlighting their pathogenic, diagnostic and potential therapeutic relevance. Beside tissue microRNAs, they are also found in body fluids, most notably in blood. Significant differences of circulating microRNA levels have been found in various diseases, making them candidates for minimally invasive markers of disease, for example tumor malignancy. The book focuses on the potential diagnostic applicability of circulating microRNAs in various diseases and their potential biological significance.

Peter Igaz has degrees in medicine and molecular biology. He works as an associate professor in medicine at Semmelweis University Budapest. He is very actively involved in research focusing on the genomics and bioinformatics of endocrine tumors; the study of microRNAs forms a special focus of his research. His research group was among the first to describe tissue microRNA profiles and microRNA biomarkers of malignancy in adrenocortical and adrenomedullary tumors, and circulating microRNAs in adrenocortical tumor patients. His group developed a novel microRNA target prediction algorithm and analyzed pathways involved in adrenal tumors with bioinformatics tools.