Detassis Simone, Grasso Margherita, Del Vescovo Valerio, Denti Michela A
Laboratory of RNA Biology and Biotechnology, Centre for Integrative Biology, University of TrentoTrento, Italy.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2017 Sep 22;5:86. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2017.00086. eCollection 2017.
Since their discovery and the advent of RNA interference, microRNAs have drawn enormous attention because of their ubiquitous involvement in cellular pathways from life to death, from metabolism to communication. It is also widely accepted that they possess an undeniable role in cancer both as tumor suppressors and tumor promoters modulating cell proliferation and migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Moreover, microRNAs can even affect the tumor surrounding environment influencing angiogenesis and immune system activation and recruitment. The tight association of microRNAs with several cancer-related processes makes them undoubtedly connected to the effect of specific cancer drugs inducing either resistance or sensitization. In this context, personalized medicine through microRNAs arose recently with the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the target binding sites, in the sequence of the microRNA itself or in microRNA biogenesis related genes, increasing risk, susceptibility and progression of multiple types of cancer in different sets of the population. The depicted scenario implies that the overall variation displayed by these small non-coding RNAs have an impact on patient-specific pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of cancer drugs, pushing on a rising need of personalized treatment. Indeed, microRNAs from either tissues or liquid biopsies are also extensively studied as valuable biomarkers for disease early recognition, progression and prognosis. Despite microRNAs being intensively studied in recent years, a comprehensive review describing these topics all in one is missing. Here we report an up-to-date and critical summary of microRNAs as tools for better understanding personalized cancer biogenesis, evolution, diagnosis and treatment.
自从微小RNA被发现以及RNA干扰技术出现以来,它们因其广泛参与从生到死、从新陈代谢到细胞通讯的细胞通路而备受关注。人们也普遍认为,它们在癌症中具有不可否认的作用,既可以作为肿瘤抑制因子,也可以作为肿瘤促进因子,调节细胞增殖和迁移、上皮-间质转化以及肿瘤细胞的侵袭和转移。此外,微小RNA甚至可以影响肿瘤周围环境,影响血管生成以及免疫系统的激活和募集。微小RNA与多种癌症相关过程的紧密联系无疑使其与特定癌症药物诱导耐药或致敏的效应相关。在这种背景下,随着在靶标结合位点、微小RNA自身序列或微小RNA生物合成相关基因中发现单核苷酸多态性,通过微小RNA的个性化医疗最近出现了,这增加了不同人群中多种癌症的风险、易感性和进展。所描述的情况意味着这些小的非编码RNA所显示的总体变异会影响癌症药物在患者个体中的药代动力学和药效学,从而推动了个性化治疗需求的不断增加。事实上,来自组织或液体活检的微小RNA也被广泛研究,作为疾病早期识别、进展和预后的有价值生物标志物。尽管近年来对微小RNA进行了深入研究,但缺少一篇全面描述所有这些主题的综述。在这里,我们报告了一篇关于微小RNA的最新且关键的综述,将其作为更好地理解个性化癌症生物发生、演变、诊断和治疗的工具。