title: Genetic alteration regulated by microRNAs in biliary tract cancers.
abstract: Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) constitute a relatively rare but highly malignant class of tumors with poor prognosis including gallbladder cancer, intra- and extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Recently, accumulated evidences have demonstrated that deregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is closely associated with the development, invasion, metastasis and prognosis of different cancers including BTCs. MiRNAs comprise an endogenously expressed and highly evolutionarily conserved group of small, non-coding, single-stranded RNAs which negatively regulate target genes expression by means of combining with 3' untranslated region (UTR) of corresponding mRNAs at the post-transcriptional level with significant roles in various fundamental cellular procedures including cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, cell cycle control and apoptosis. Recent studies have indicated that miRNAs could function as novel tumor-promoting genes or tumor suppressor genes to act as potential therapeutic targets in anticancer treatment because the genetic alteration regulated by miRNAs could result in tumorigenesis and tumor inhibition. Anomalous miRNAs expression patterns, acting as phenotypic signatures of distinct cancers, are promising to be used as diagnostic, prognostic, predictive biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the current findings from the studies about potential genetic alteration regulated by miRNAs and their roles in BTCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Affiliated Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Affiliated Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China.
authors.forename: Shihai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Affiliated Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Affiliated Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China. Electronic address: xiaohuixiang@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Splenic Medicine, Affiliated Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China. Electronic address: zhaj_1023@163.com.
authors.forename: Aijun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D001661:Biliary Tract Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Cholangiocarcinoma; Gallbladder carcinoma; Genetic alteration; microRNAs