Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology at the Li Ka-Shing Institute of Health Sciences, State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2011 Mar;26(3):437-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2010.06512.x.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of 19-23 nucleotides that negatively regulate gene expression through binding to the 3'-untranslated regions of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Although the miRNA family constitutes only a minor fraction of the human genome, they hold fundamental importance in diverse physiological and developmental processes due to their pleiotropic effects on the post-transcriptional regulation of many vital genes. This class of regulatory RNAs has also emerged as important players in carcinogenesis; most, if not all, cancer types have abnormal miRNA expression patterns. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), miRNA dysregulation plays a key role in mediating the pathogenicity of several etiologic risk factors and, more importantly, they promote a number of cancer-inducing signaling pathways. Recent studies have also demonstrated their potential values in the clinical management of HCC patients as some miRNAs may be used as prognostic or diagnostic markers. The significance of miRNAs in liver carcinogenesis emphasizes their values as therapeutic targets, while technological advances in the delivery of miRNA has shed new possibilities for their use as novel therapeutic agents against HCC.
微小 RNA（miRNA）是一种长约 19-23 个核苷酸的非编码小 RNA，通过与靶信使 RNA（mRNA）的 3'-非翻译区结合，负调控基因表达。尽管 miRNA 家族仅占人类基因组的一小部分，但由于它们对许多重要基因的转录后调控具有多效性，因此在多种生理和发育过程中具有重要意义。这类调节 RNA 也已成为癌发生的重要参与者；如果不是所有癌症类型，那么大多数癌症类型都存在 miRNA 表达模式异常。在肝细胞癌（HCC）中，miRNA 失调在介导几种病因风险因素的致病性方面起着关键作用，更重要的是，它们促进了许多致癌诱导信号通路。最近的研究还表明，它们在 HCC 患者的临床管理中有潜在价值，因为一些 miRNA 可用作预后或诊断标志物。miRNA 在肝致癌中的重要性强调了它们作为治疗靶点的价值，而 miRNA 递送技术的进步为将其用作新型 HCC 治疗药物提供了新的可能性。
