title: Epigenetic control of autophagy by microRNAs in ovarian cancer.
abstract: Autophagy is a lysosomal-driven catabolic process that contributes to the preservation of cell homeostasis through the regular elimination of cellular damaged, aged, and redundant molecules and organelles. Autophagy plays dual opposite roles in cancer: on one hand it prevents carcinogenesis; on the other hand it confers an advantage to cancer cells to survive under prohibitive conditions. Autophagy has been implicated in ovarian cancer aggressiveness and in ovarian cancer cell chemoresistance and dormancy. Small noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression at posttranscriptional level, thus playing an important role in many aspects of cell pathophysiology, including cancerogenesis and cancer progression. Certain miRNAs have recently emerged as important epigenetic modulators of autophagy in cancer cells. The mRNA of several autophagy-related genes contains, in fact, the target sequence for miRNAs belonging to different families, with either oncosuppressive or oncogenic activities. MiRNA profiling studies have identified some miRNAs aberrantly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues that can impact autophagy. In addition, plasma and stroma cell-derived miRNAs in tumour-bearing patients can regulate the expression of relevant autophagy genes in cancer cells. The present review focuses on the potential implications of miRNAs regulating autophagy in ovarian cancer pathogenesis and progression.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Department of Health Sciences, Centro di Biotecnologie per la Ricerca Medica Applicata, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via P. Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1528-331X
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Titone
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Department of Health Sciences, Centro di Biotecnologie per la Ricerca Medica Applicata, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via P. Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4903-6878
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morani
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Department of Health Sciences, Centro di Biotecnologie per la Ricerca Medica Applicata, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via P. Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9711-2655
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Follo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Department of Health Sciences, Centro di Biotecnologie per la Ricerca Medica Applicata, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via P. Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9495-2202
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vidoni
authors.affiliation: Unit of Molecular Therapies, Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mezzanzanica
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Department of Health Sciences, Centro di Biotecnologie per la Ricerca Medica Applicata, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via P. Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5494-3034
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isidoro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm