Circulating miRNAs and miRNA shuttles as biomarkers: Perspective trajectories of healthy and unhealthy aging

Human aging is a lifelong process characterized by a continuous trade-off between pro-and anti-inflammatory responses, where the best-adapted and/or remodeled genetic/epigenetic profile may develop a longevity phenotype. Centenarians and their offspring represent such a phenotype and their comparison to patients with age-related diseases (ARDs) is expected to maximize the chance to unravel the genetic makeup that better associates with healthy aging trajectories. Seemingly, such comparison is expected to allow the discovery of new biomarkers of longevity together with risk factor for the most common ARDs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and their shuttles (extracellular vesicles in particular) are curre…