Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
Future Oncol. 2013 Mar;9(3):387-402. doi: 10.2217/fon.12.192.
miRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. miRNAs' ability to inhibit translation of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes implies they have an involvement in carcinogenesis. Specific miRNA expression signatures have been identified in a variety of human cancers. More recently, occurrence of miRNAs in the blood serum and plasma of humans has been repeatedly observed. miRNA levels in serum and plasma are more stable, reproducible and consistent among individuals of the same species in comparison with other circulating nucleic acids. Circulating miRNAs have been successfully evaluated in a wide range of solid cancers as promising novel noninvasive biomarkers of early disease onset or relapse. Here we describe the origin of circulating miRNAs, principles of their immense stability and proposed functions, and comprehensively summarize studies focusing on their significance in the most frequently studied cancer types in this regard, including breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer.
miRNAs 是短的非编码 RNA，可以在转录后调节基因表达。miRNAs 抑制癌基因和肿瘤抑制基因翻译的能力意味着它们参与了致癌作用。已经在多种人类癌症中确定了特定的 miRNA 表达特征。最近，已经反复观察到人类血清和血浆中的 miRNAs 的存在。与其他循环核酸相比，血清和血浆中的 miRNA 水平在同种个体之间更稳定、可重复且一致。在广泛的实体瘤中，循环 miRNA 已成功作为有前途的新型非侵入性疾病早期发作或复发的生物标志物进行了评估。在这里，我们描述了循环 miRNA 的起源、其巨大稳定性的原理和提出的功能，并全面总结了在这方面最常研究的癌症类型（包括乳腺癌、结直肠癌、肺癌和前列腺癌）中研究其意义的研究。
