miRs – Mere hype or master regulators in the therapy of BPD?

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a developmental disorder of the premature lungs stemming from a multifactorial etiology and has a variable clinical phenotype. Innovative systems-biology based ‘omic’ approaches may help define the cellular and humoral interactions that regulate lung development and injury associated abnormalities and can provide better insights into the etiopathogenesis and potential novel therapeutic options related to BPD. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding RNAs that have increasingly been implicated in several lung diseases, including BPD. This chapter highlights the various miRs which have been studied in the pathogenesis of BPD. In addition, it discusses their potential role as targeted therapy for BPD.