Pathogenic roles of microRNAs and competing endogenous RNAs in Hirschsprung disease (HSCR): Potential diagnostic markers for HSCR

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non‐coding single‐stranded RNAs. They can bind to the 3′‐untranslated region (3′UTR) of mRNAs and regulate the expression of their target genes by inducing degradation or translation inhibition of the corresponding mRNAs. Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) can disable miRNAs by combining miRNAs response elements (MREs) with miRNAs. Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a common pediatric surgical disease in which cells derived from the enteric neural crest fail to colonize the distal colon, but its pathogenesis is not very clear. In recent years, with more and more studies on miRNAs in HSCR, miRNAs seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of HSCR. miRNAs in HSCR affect the proliferation and migration of enteric neural crest cells mainly through target genes, and ceRNAs inhibit miRNAs, thus participating in the pathogenesis of HSCR. It was reported that some miRNAs in the serum of children with HSCR were significantly higher than those in the control group. Therefore, miRNAs are expected to be a new noninvasive early screening biomarker and targeted therapy point for HSCR. Here, we provide a summary of the understanding of miRNAs and ceRNAs in regulating enteric nervous system proliferation and migration and their roles in the pathogenesis of HSCR.