“
“Conventional colonoscopy is currently the method of choice for colorectal cancer (CRC) screeningdue to its ability to detect and remove precancerous polyps. However, this screening

modality is not widely accepted because of its invasiveness, cost, need for sedation, and limited capacity. Attempts were made to find new non-invasive methods for CRC screening. The ideal technology would be a disposable, skill-independent, anesthesia-free, self-propelling, self-navigating miniaturized endoscopic device that can move along the entire length of the colon while transmitting video pictures of the colonic mucosa, and one that has a therapeutic option as well. These new technologies have the potential advantages of higher adherence rates to screening

and more widespread availability. Over the years, different prototypes of self-propelled devices have been described. The vast Belinostat majority of these have not reached the stage of clinical application. This chapter describes those self-propelled devices that have reached the stage of clinical trials and discusses the initial results of these studies. “
“Like the MIR space station that orbited the earth for 15 years, miRs (microRNAs or miRNAs) orbit the circulatory system of mammals. miRNAs are small (20-23-nucleotide) RNA molecules, with primary regulatory functions in controlling expression levels of cellular messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The details of miRNA generation and targeting to cellular mRNAs are described in a recent comprehensive review.[1] In brief, miRNAs act in conjunction with the RNA-induced silencing complex to target the 3′ untranslated region learn more selleck chemicals llc of cellular mRNAs, resulting in mRNA degradation. Alternatively, miRNAs can bind to mRNAs and inhibit translation. miRNAs also appear to have other functions

in the context of infectious disease. For example, herpes viruses encode miRNAs that regulate pathogenesis and latent viral reservoirs.[2] For hepatitis C virus (HCV), the cellular miRNA-122 has been shown to bind to HCV RNA to enhance RNA abundance,[3, 4] although miR-122-independent replication of HCV has been reported on.[5] Thus, miRNAs may also serve as host cell factors to modulate virus replication. Interestingly, despite its ability to enhance HCV replication, miR-122 levels decrease with progression of HCV-induced liver disease.[6, 7] Recent studies demonstrate that miRNAs are also associated with various diseases, including cancer. Because a single miRNA can regulate the expression of many cellular mRNAs,[8] deregulated expression of only a few miRNAs has the capacity to significantly perturb cellular processes that lead to disease. As such, miRNAs have become attractive targets for novel approaches to control various disease processes. Additionally, because circulating miRNAs are also found in human serum and plasma, they are touted as candidate biomarkers for many diseases. In this issue of Hepatology, Shrivastava et al.