Epigenetic Regulation of Th2 Response in Asthma by Non-Coding RNAs

Abstract

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease. Pathogenic mechanism underlying asthma is complex. The inflammatory response of asthma includes lymphocytes (T, B cells), ILC2, eosinophils and other types of immune and inflammatory cells. T CD4+ T helper 2 cells (Th2 cells) are thought to play a central role in regulating the phenotype of allergic asthma. Asthma is often closely associated with Th1/Th2 cell imbalance. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are non-protein coding RNA molecules in the transcriptome, mainly including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs and circRNAs, etc., which are widely found in eukaryotic transcriptome and participate in the regulation of a variety of biological processes. ncRNAs are considered to function as modulators of the immune system. Their biological changes represent an important mechanism for the development of immune-mediated diseases. This chapter mainly discusses the epigenetic regulation of Th2 cells and their cytokines in asthma by non-coding RNAs. It helps us to better understand the pathogenesis of asthma and find potential asthma biomarkers.