Dipartimento di Morfologia ed Embriologia and LTTA, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Cancer J. 2012 May-Jun;18(3):238-43. doi: 10.1097/PPO.0b013e318258b5f4.
An ongoing challenge in cancer research is represented by the identification of new specific clinical molecular markers and pharmacological targets. During the last 10 years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have become one of the hottest subjects in the area of cancer genomics. MicroRNAs are single-stranded RNAs of 19 to 24 nucleotides in length generated through a complex maturation process. Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs can have an oncogene or tumor suppressor role by regulating the expression of target genes. Therefore, microRNAs are highly related to cancer processes, including initiation, growth, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis. In this panorama, several high-through put technologies studies have revealed miRNA roles in classifying tumors and predicting patient outcome with high accuracy. We provide a review highlighting recent progress on the understanding of the cellular function of human microRNAs and their expression in solid tumors.
在癌症研究中，一个持续存在的挑战是确定新的特定临床分子标记物和药理学靶点。在过去的 10 年中，microRNAs（miRNAs）已成为癌症基因组学领域的热门课题之一。miRNAs 是长度为 19 到 24 个核苷酸的单链 RNA，通过复杂的成熟过程产生。最近的研究表明，miRNAs 通过调节靶基因的表达可以发挥癌基因或肿瘤抑制基因的作用。因此，miRNAs 与癌症过程高度相关，包括起始、生长、凋亡、侵袭和转移。在这种情况下，一些高通量技术研究揭示了 miRNA 在肿瘤分类和准确预测患者预后方面的作用。我们提供了一篇综述，重点介绍了对人类 miRNAs 的细胞功能及其在实体瘤中表达的最新理解进展。
