title: MicroRNAs in melanoma development and resistance to target therapy.
abstract: microRNAs constitute a complex class of pleiotropic post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression involved in the control of several physiologic and pathologic processes. Their mechanism of action is primarily based on the imperfect matching of a seed region located at the 5' end of a 21-23 nt sequence with a partially complementary sequence located in the 3' untranslated region of target mRNAs. This leads to inhibition of mRNA translation and eventually to its degradation. Individual miRNAs are capable of binding to several mRNAs and several miRNAs are capable of influencing the function of the same mRNAs. In recent years networks of miRNAs are emerging as capable of controlling key signaling pathways responsible for the growth and propagation of cancer cells. Furthermore several examples have been provided which highlight the involvement of miRNAs in the development of resistance to targeted drug therapies. In this review we provide an updated overview of the role of miRNAs in the development of melanoma and the identification of the main downstream pathways controlled by these miRNAs. Furthermore we discuss a group of miRNAs capable to influence through their respective up- or down-modulation the development of resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", Napoli, Italia.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fattore
authors.affiliation: CROM, Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale"-IRCCS, Napoli, Italia.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costantini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università degli Studi di Catanzaro "Magna Graecia", Catanzaro, Italia.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Malpicci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università degli Studi di Catanzaro "Magna Graecia", Catanzaro, Italia.
authors.forename: Ciro Francesco
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", Napoli, Italia.
authors.forename: Paolo Antonio
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ascierto
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Carlo M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Croce
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italia.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", Napoli, Italia.|IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Regina Elena", Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciliberto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: drug resistance; intracellular pathways; melanoma; miRNA; target therapy