Abstract
Pathological processes such as myocardial apoptosis, cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, and cardiac electrical remodeling are involved in the development and progression of most cardiac diseases. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been found to play an important role in heart diseases as a novel type of endogenous regulators, which can inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis, improve hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, promote myocardial fibrosis and atrial electrical remodeling. In this review, we summarize the research progress on the function of miR-21 in heart diseases and its mechanism, and discuss its potential application in diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases.