TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-coding RNAs
T2 - The cancer genome dark matter that matters!
AU - Ling, Hui
AU - Girnita, Leonard
AU - Buda, Octavian
AU - Calin, George A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr. Calin is The Alan M. Gewirtz Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar. Work in Dr. Calin's laboratory is supported in part by the NIH/NCI grants 1UH2TR00943-01 and 1 R01 CA182905-01, the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma grant from NCI (P50 CA093459), Aim at Melanoma Foundation and the Miriam and Jim Mulva research funds, the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Brain SPORE (2P50CA127001), a Developmental Research award from Leukemia SPORE, a CLL Moonshot Flagship project, a 2015 Knowledge GAP MDACC grant, an Owens Foundation grant, and the Estate of C. G. Johnson, Jr.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Protein-coding genes comprise only 3% of the human genome, while the genes that are transcribed into RNAs but do not code for proteins occupy majority of the genome. Once considered as biological darker matter, non-coding RNAs are now being recognized as critical regulators in cancer genome. Among the many types of non-coding RNAs, microRNAs approximately 20 nucleotides in length are best characterized and their mechanisms of action are well generalized. microRNA exerts oncogenic or tumor suppressor function by regulation of protein-coding genes via sequence complementarity. The expression of microRNA is aberrantly regulated in all cancer types, and both academia and biotech companies have been keenly pursuing the potential of microRNA as cancer biomarker for early detection, prognosis, and therapeutic response. The key involvement of microRNAs in cancer also prompted interest on exploration of therapeutic values of microRNAs as anticancer drugs and drug targets. MRX34, a liposome-formulated miRNA-34 mimic, developed by Mirna Therapeutics, becomes the first microRNA therapeutic entering clinical trial for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. In this review, we presented a general overview of microRNAs in cancer biology, the potential of microRNAs as cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and associated challenges.
AB - Protein-coding genes comprise only 3% of the human genome, while the genes that are transcribed into RNAs but do not code for proteins occupy majority of the genome. Once considered as biological darker matter, non-coding RNAs are now being recognized as critical regulators in cancer genome. Among the many types of non-coding RNAs, microRNAs approximately 20 nucleotides in length are best characterized and their mechanisms of action are well generalized. microRNA exerts oncogenic or tumor suppressor function by regulation of protein-coding genes via sequence complementarity. The expression of microRNA is aberrantly regulated in all cancer types, and both academia and biotech companies have been keenly pursuing the potential of microRNA as cancer biomarker for early detection, prognosis, and therapeutic response. The key involvement of microRNAs in cancer also prompted interest on exploration of therapeutic values of microRNAs as anticancer drugs and drug targets. MRX34, a liposome-formulated miRNA-34 mimic, developed by Mirna Therapeutics, becomes the first microRNA therapeutic entering clinical trial for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. In this review, we presented a general overview of microRNAs in cancer biology, the potential of microRNAs as cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and associated challenges.
KW - biomarker
KW - cancer
KW - microRNA
KW - oncogene
KW - therapeutics
KW - tumor suppressor
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U2 - 10.1515/cclm-2016-0740
DO - 10.1515/cclm-2016-0740
M3 - Review article
C2 - 27988500
AN - SCOPUS:85017209893
SN - 1434-6621
VL - 55
SP - 705
EP - 714
JO - Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
JF - Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
IS - 5
ER -