title: The Role of Mir-148a in Cancer.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved noncoding RNAs of about 19-25 nucleotides. Through specifically pairing with complementary sites in 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of target mRNAs, they mediate post-transcriptional silencing. MicroRNAs have been implicated in many physiological processes including proliferation, differentiation, development, apoptosis, and metabolism. In recent years many studies have revealed that the aberrant expression of miRNA is closely related to oncogenesis and is now an intense field of study. Mir-148a is aberrantly expressed in various cancers and has been identified as an oncogenic or tumor suppressor with crucial roles in the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis. In this review, we have summarized the role of mir-148a in the oncogenic pathways of gastric, liver, breast and urogenital cancers, and in neurogliocytoma oncogenesis. Studying the functional role of mir-148a is crucial in discovering novel tumor molecular markers and identifying potential therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Hunan Normal University Medical School, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China;
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Hunan Normal University Medical School, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China;
authors.forename: Xiyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Public Health School, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Hunan Normal University Medical School, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China;
authors.forename: Xiaoning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
keywords: biological function.; cancer; miRNA; mir-148a; oncogene; tumor suppressor gene