NeuroWebinar & Seminar
1 appointment per week, on Friday at 2.00 pm
**Hybrid seminar: both in presence (max 25 people in Seminar room) and on webex
Hybrid seminar
Thursday 16/7/2026 h. 2.00 pm
Liliana Bernardino
RISE-Health, UBI, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Portugal
UNITA – Universitas Montium
MicroRNA-Based Modulation of Neuroprotection, Neuroinflammation and Regeneration in Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and remains a major clinical and socioeconomic burden. Because PD involves convergent mechanisms including dopaminergic degeneration, neuroinflammation, striatal dysfunction and impaired repair, microRNAs have emerged as promising therapeutic candidates due to their capacity to regulate multiple pathogenic pathways.
This seminar will present experimental evidence supporting microRNA-based modulation as a multimodal strategy for PD.
The seminar will first address miR-224 as a novel candidate in PD. We found that miR-224 is selectively downregulated in the striatum one week after 6-OHDA lesion. Intracerebral miR-224 administration improved motor performance and restored c-FOS expression in DARPP-32-positive striatal medium spiny neurons, without inducing dopaminergic neuroprotection. Instead, miR-224 promoted a more ramified microglial phenotype in the striatum and substantia nigra.
These findings suggest that selected microRNAs can promote functional recovery by reshaping disease-relevant cellular responses, even in the absence of direct dopaminergic rescue. However, their therapeutic translation requires delivery platforms capable of protecting microRNAs, improving their bioavailability and directing their effects towards specific reparative or neuroprotective mechanisms.
To address this challenge, we developed miR-124 delivery strategies as a case study. Polymeric nanoparticles loaded with miR-124 promoted subventricular zone neurogenesis, increased newly generated neurons in the lesioned striatum and improved motor deficits in an in vivo PD model. In parallel, we established a small extracellular vesicle-based platform for miR-124 delivery that, unlike polymeric nanoparticles, did not enhance neurogenesis but preserved dopaminergic neurons and improved motor performance. These findings highlight miR-124 as a therapeutic target and show that the delivery system critically determines the biological outcome.
Overall, this work identifies distinct microRNA candidates and delivery strategies capable of modulating neuroprotection, regeneration and inflammatory control in PD, supporting microRNA-based interventions as a versatile platform for disease-modifying therapeutic development.