Robb Tamsin, Reid Glen, Blenkiron Cherie
Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), Sydney, NSW, 2139, Australia.
Target Oncol. 2017 Apr;12(2):163-178. doi: 10.1007/s11523-017-0476-7.
miRNAs are a well-studied class of non-coding RNAs, predominantly functioning to down-regulate gene expression from messenger RNA (mRNA) in a targeted manner by binding to complementary sequence on the target mRNA. Many miRNAs have been linked to the development of hallmarks of cancer. miRNAs represent valuable therapeutic targets to exploit in the search for novel cancer treatments, due to their ubiquitous expression and their ability to tightly regulate the gene expression of a whole host of genes and pathways in a single hit. The miRNA system may be harnessed for therapeutic use either through replacement of tumour suppressive miRNAs lost in cancer, or through inhibition of oncogenic miRNAs overexpressed in cancer. There is a large body of work investigating optimal systemic and localised delivery strategies, and while miRNA therapeutics show promise, it is clear that further developments to delivery strategies may be required to allow safe translation of miRNAs to the clinic. The information gleaned from miRNA signatures as biomarkers is already proving invaluable in the fight to better understand and treat individual tumours, and there is great promise to the applications of these small, but mighty molecules in the future of cancer therapeutics.
微小RNA（miRNA）是一类经过充分研究的非编码RNA，主要通过与靶信使核糖核酸（mRNA）上的互补序列结合，以靶向方式下调信使核糖核酸（mRNA）的基因表达。许多微小RNA与癌症特征的发展有关。微小RNA是寻找新型癌症治疗方法中具有开发价值的治疗靶点，这是由于它们广泛表达，并且能够一举紧密调控众多基因和信号通路的基因表达。微小RNA系统可通过替代癌症中缺失的肿瘤抑制性微小RNA，或通过抑制癌症中过表达的致癌性微小RNA来用于治疗。有大量工作在研究最佳的全身和局部递送策略，虽然微小RNA疗法前景广阔，但显然可能需要进一步改进递送策略，以便将微小RNA安全地转化应用于临床。从作为生物标志物的微小RNA特征中收集到的信息，在更好地理解和治疗个体肿瘤的斗争中已证明具有极高价值，并且这些小而强大的分子在未来癌症治疗中的应用前景广阔。
