Hernando E
Experimental Pathology Program, Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA.
Clin Transl Oncol. 2007 Mar;9(3):155-60. doi: 10.1007/s12094-007-0029-0.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that downregulate gene expression during various crucial cell processes such as apoptosis, differentiation and development. Recent work supports a role for miRNAs in the initiation and progression of human malignancies. Moreover, large high-throughput studies in patients revealed that miRNA profiling has the potential to classify tumours and predict patient outcome with high accuracy. Functional studies, some of which involve animal models, indicate that miRNAs act as tumour suppressors and oncogenes. This review examines the role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of cancer as well as miRNA-profiling studies performed in human malignancies. Implications of these findings for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients are also discussed.
微小RNA（miRNA）是一类小的非编码RNA，在细胞凋亡、分化和发育等各种关键细胞过程中下调基因表达。最近的研究支持miRNA在人类恶性肿瘤的发生和发展中发挥作用。此外，对患者进行的大规模高通量研究表明，miRNA谱分析有潜力对肿瘤进行分类并高度准确地预测患者的预后。功能研究（其中一些涉及动物模型）表明，miRNA可作为肿瘤抑制因子和癌基因。本综述探讨了miRNA在癌症发病机制中的作用以及在人类恶性肿瘤中进行的miRNA谱分析研究。还讨论了这些发现对癌症患者诊断和治疗的意义。
