Tough Decoy-Mediated Cardiac Gene Suppression.

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a small, non-coding RNA molecule (~22 nucleotides) that acts as a post-transcriptional gene regulator, primarily by inhibiting the translation of target mRNA transcripts or affecting cell mRNA stability. Since miRNAs are comprehensively involved in gene regulation, their abnormalities are associated with various human diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Additionally, targeted inhibition of disease-related miRNAs and their targets should have therapeutic potential. Therefore, this chapter describes the experimental steps for targeted inhibition of specific miRNAs using adenoviral vectorized tough decoys that efficiently silence miRNA function in cardiac cells.