title: MicroRNA and cancer--a brief overview.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs with a length of ∼22 nucleotides, involved in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. Until now, over 2588 miRNAs have been identified in humans and the list is growing. MicroRNAs have an important role in all biological processes and aberrant miRNA expression is associated with many diseases including cancer. In the year 2002 the first connection between cancer and miRNA deregulation was discovered. Since then, a lot of information about the key role which miRNAs play in cancer development and drug resistance has been gained. However, there is still a long way to go to fully understand the miRNA world. In this review, we briefly describe miRNA biogenesis and discuss the role of miRNAs in cancer development and drug resistance. Finally we explain how miRNAs can be used as biomarkers and as a novel therapeutic approach in cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acunzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wernicke
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA. Electronic address: carlo.croce@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Carlo M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Croce
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm
keywords: Biomarker; Cancer; MicroRNA