Modulation of Cancer Traits by Tumor Suppressor microRNAs

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ioannis Grammatikakis¹  Myriam Gorospe¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging-Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA;

关键词: post-transcriptional gene regulation;    oncomiR;    tumor suppressor microRNA;    senescence;    carcinogenesis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms14011822

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are potent post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. In mammalian cells, miRNAs typically suppress mRNA stability and/or translation through partial complementarity with target mRNAs. Each miRNA can regulate a wide range of mRNAs, and a single mRNA can be regulated by multiple miRNAs. Through these complex regulatory interactions, miRNAs participate in many cellular processes, including carcinogenesis. By altering gene expression patterns, cancer cells can develop specific phenotypes that allow them to proliferate, survive, secure oxygen and nutrients, evade immune recognition, invade other tissues and metastasize. At the same time, cancer cells acquire miRNA signature patterns distinct from those of normal cells; the differentially expressed miRNAs contribute to enabling the cancer traits. Over the past decade, several miRNAs have been identified, which functioned as oncogenic miRNAs (oncomiRs) or tumor-suppressive miRNAs (TS-miRNAs). In this review, we focus specifically on TS-miRNAs and their effects on well-established cancer traits. We also discuss the rising interest in TS-miRNAs in cancer therapy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.