Cholangiopathies and the noncoding revolution

Purpose of review Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) among others, have attracted a great deal of attention for their potential role as master regulators of gene expression and as therapeutic targets. This review focuses on recent advances on the role of ncRNAs in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the cholangiocytes (i.e. cholangiopathies). Recent findings In the recent years, there has been an exponential growth in the knowledge on ncRNAs and their role in cholangiopathies, particularly cholangiocarcinoma. Although several studies focused on miRNAs as noninvasive biomarkers for diagnosis and staging, several studies also highlighted their functions and provided new insights into disease mechanisms.