title: Let-7 and miR-200 microRNAs: guardians against pluripotency and cancer progression.
abstract: Micro (mi)RNAs are emerging as important regulators of cellular differentiation, their importance underscored by the fact that they are often dysregulated during carcinogenesis. Two evolutionary conserved families, let-7 and miR-200, regulate key differentiation processes during development. Loss of let-7 in cancer results in reverse embryogenesis and dedifferentiation, and miR-200 has been identified as a powerful regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Recent findings have connected let-7 with stem cell maintenance and point at a connection between EMT and stem cell formation. A part of tumor progression can be viewed as a continuum of progressive dedifferentiation (EMT) with a cell at the endpoint that has stem cell-like properties. I propose that steps of this process are driven by specific changes in the expression of let-7 and miR-200 family members.
authors.affiliation: The Ben May Department for Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. mpeter@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Peter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C533896:MIRN200 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D014157:Transcription Factors; C487931:mirnlet7 microRNA, human