title: MicroRNA dysregulation in uveal melanoma: a new player enters the game.
abstract: Uveal melanoma is the second most common form of melanoma and a predominant intraocular malignant tumor in adults. The development of uveal melanoma is a multistep process involving genetic and epigenetic alteration of proto-oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes. Recent discoveries have shed a new light on the involvement of a class of noncoding RNA known as microRNAs (miRNAs) in uveal melanoma. A lot of miRNAs show differential expressions in uveal melanoma tissues and cell lines. Genes coding for these miRNAs have been characterized as novel oncogene and tumor-suppressor genes based on findings that these miRNAs control malignant phenotypes of uveal melanoma cells. Several studies have confirmed that dysregulation of miRNAs promotes cell-cycle progression, confers resistance to apoptosis, and enhances invasiveness and metastasis. Moreover, several miRNAs have also been shown to correlate with uveal melanoma initiation and progression, and thus may be used as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis. Elucidating the biological aspects of miRNA dysregulation may help us better understand the pathogenesis of uveal melanoma and promote the development of miRNA directed-therapeutics against this disease.
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Zheng
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Jianxiong
authors: J
authors: Shen
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Jiang
mesh_terms: D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D000098943:Uveal Melanoma
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: diagnosis and therapy; microRNAs; oncogene; tumor suppressor; uveal melanoma