title: Regulation of miRNAs by herbal medicine: An emerging field in cancer therapies.
abstract: MicroRNAs' expression profiles have recently gained major attention as far as cancer research is concerned. MicroRNAs are able to inhibit target gene expression via binding to the 3' UTR of target mRNA, resulting in target mRNA cleavage or translation inhibition. MicroRNAs play significant parts in a myriad of biological processes; studies have proven, on the other hand, that aberrant microRNA expression is, more often than not, associated with the growth and progression of cancers. MicroRNAs could act as oncogenes (oncomir) or tumor suppressors and can also be utilized as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and cancer therapy. Recent studies have shown that such herbal extracts as Shikonin, Sinomenium acutum, curcumin, Olea europaea, ginseng, and Coptidis Rhizoma could alter microRNA expression profiles through inhibiting cancer cell development, activating the apoptosis pathway, or increasing the efficacy of conventional cancer therapeutics. Such findings patently suggest that the novel specific targeting of microRNAs by herbal extracts could complete the restriction of tumors by killing the cancerous cells so as to recover survival results in patients diagnosed with malignancies. In this review, we summarized the current research about microRNA biogenesis, microRNAs in cancer, herbal compounds with anti-cancer effects and novel strategies for employing herbal extracts in order to target microRNAs for a better treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mansoori
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: Behzad_im@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baradaran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Coptidis rhizoma; Curcumin; Ginseng; Herbal medicine; Micro RNA; Olea europaea; Shikonin; Sinomenium acutum