Department of Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
J Biosci. 2011 Aug;36(3):481-91. doi: 10.1007/s12038-011-9083-4.
MicroRNAs (miRs), the 17- to 25-nucleotide-long non-coding RNAs, regulate expression of approximately 30% of the protein-coding genes at the post-transcriptional level and have emerged as critical components of the complex functional pathway networks controlling important cellular processes, such as proliferation, development, differentiation, stress response' and apoptosis. Abnormal expression levels of miRs, regulating critical cancer-associated pathways, have been implicated to play important roles in the oncogenic processes, functioning both as oncogenes and as tumour suppressor genes. Elucidation of the genetic networks regulated by the abnormally expressing miRs in cancer cells is proving to be extremely significant in understanding the role of these miRs in the induction of malignant-transformation-associated phenotypic changes. As a result, the miRs involved in the oncogenic transformation process are being investigated as novel biomarkers of disease detection and prognosis as well as potential therapeutic targets for human cancers. In this article, we review the existing literature in the field documenting the significance of aberrantly expressed miRs in human pancreatic cancer and discuss how the oncogenic miRs may be involved in the genetic networks regulating functional pathways deregulated in this malignancy.
微小 RNA（miRs）是 17 到 25 个核苷酸长的非编码 RNA，在转录后水平调节约 30%的蛋白质编码基因的表达，已成为控制重要细胞过程（如增殖、发育、分化、应激反应和细胞凋亡）的复杂功能途径网络的关键组成部分。miRs 的异常表达水平调节与癌症相关的关键途径，被认为在致癌过程中发挥重要作用，既可以作为癌基因，也可以作为肿瘤抑制基因。阐明癌细胞中异常表达的 miRs 所调控的遗传网络，对于理解这些 miRs 在诱导与恶性转化相关的表型变化中的作用非常重要。因此，参与致癌转化过程的 miRs 被作为疾病检测和预后的新型生物标志物以及人类癌症的潜在治疗靶点进行研究。在本文中，我们综述了该领域现有的文献，记录了异常表达的 miRs 在人类胰腺癌中的重要性，并讨论了致癌性 miRs 如何参与调节这种恶性肿瘤中失调的功能途径的遗传网络。
