Part I: General features and technical issues related to circulating microRNA -- 1. Introduction to microRNAs: biogenesis, action, relevance of tissue microRNAs in disease pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy. The concept of circulating microRNAs -- 2. Extracellular microRNAs in membrane vesicles and non-vesicular carriers -- 3. Technical aspects related to the analysis of circulating microRNAs -- Part II: Diagnostic relevance of circulating microRNAs -- 4. Circulating blood-borne microRNAs as biomarkers in solid tumors -- 5. Circulating microRNA as biomarkers in hematological malignancies -- 6 Circulating microRNAs as biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases -- 7 Circulating microRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases -- 8 Circulating extracellular microRNA in systemic autoimmunity -- 9. Circulating microRNAs in inflammatory bowel diseases -- 10. Circulating microRNAs in diabetes progression: discovery, validation and research translation -- 11. Diagnostic relevance of microRNAs in other body fluids including urine, feces and saliva -- Part III: Potential biological relevance of circulating microRNA -- 12 Circulating microRNAs as hormones – intercellular and inter-organ conveyors of epigenetic information? -- 13. Are circulating microRNAs involved in tumor surveillance? -- 14.-Hypothetic interindividual and interspecies relevance of microRNAs released in body fluids.

MicroRNAs as the endogenous mediators of RNA interference have experienced an unprecedented career in recent years, highlighting their pathogenic, diagnostic and potential therapeutic relevance. Beside tissue microRNAs, they are also found in body fluids, most notably in blood. Significant differences of circulating microRNA levels have been found in various diseases, making them candidates for minimally invasive markers of disease, for example tumor malignancy. The book focuses on the potential diagnostic applicability of circulating microRNAs in various diseases and their potential biological significance.