title: Regulation of microRNAs by natural agents: new strategies in cancer therapies.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNA which regulate gene expression by messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation or translation repression. The plethora of published reports in recent years demonstrated that they play fundamental roles in many biological processes, such as carcinogenesis, angiogenesis, programmed cell death, cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and differentiation by acting as tumour suppressor or oncogene, and aberrations in their expressions have been linked to onset and progression of various cancers. Furthermore, each miRNA is capable of regulating the expression of many genes, allowing them to simultaneously regulate multiple cellular signalling pathways. Hence, miRNAs have the potential to be used as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis as well as therapeutic targets. Recent studies have shown that natural agents such as curcumin, resveratrol, genistein, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, indole-3-carbinol, and 3,3'-diindolylmethane exert their antiproliferative and/or proapoptotic effects through the regulation of one or more miRNAs. Therefore, this review will look at the regulation of miRNAs by natural agents as a means to potentially enhance the efficacy of conventional chemotherapy through combinatorial therapies. It is hoped that this would provide new strategies in cancer therapies to improve overall response and survival outcome in cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Science (Genetics and Molecular Biology), Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Neoh Hun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3520-1086
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Phuah
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Science (Genetics and Molecular Biology), Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ; Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Noor Hasima
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3905-3129
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Nagoor
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D000077185:Resveratrol; D013267:Stilbenes / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001688:Biological Products; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs; D013267:Stilbenes; D002392:Catechin; C045651:epigallocatechin gallate; D003474:Curcumin; D000077185:Resveratrol