An article published in Experimental Biology and Medicine (Volume 242, Issue 3, February, 2017) identifies microRNAs (miRNAs) as key factors in some hemoglobinopathies, genetic disorders characterized by alterations in the level or structure of the globin proteins that are responsible for oxygen transport in the blood. The study, led by Dr. Thais Fornari, from the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Campinas in Brazil demonstrated that differential expression of miRNAs may be responsible for the variations in globin gene expression observed in patients with two hemoglobinopathies: hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin deletion type 2 (HPFH-2) and Sicilian-δβ–thalassemia.
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