MicroRNAs regulating SOX2 in cancer progression and therapy response

Abstract

The proliferation, metastasis and therapy response of tumour cells are tightly regulated by interaction among various signalling networks. The microRNAs (miRNAs) can bind to 3′-UTR of mRNA and down-regulate expression of target gene. The miRNAs target various molecular pathways in regulating biological events such as apoptosis, differentiation, angiogenesis and migration. The aberrant expression of miRNAs occurs in cancers and they have both tumour-suppressor and tumour-promoting functions. On the contrary, SOX proteins are capable of binding to DNA and regulating gene expression. SOX2 is a well-known member of SOX family that its overexpression in different cancers to ensure progression and stemness. The present review focuses on modulatory impact of miRNAs on SOX2 in affecting growth, migration and therapy response of cancers. The lncRNAs and circRNAs can function as upstream mediators of miRNA/SOX2 axis in cancers. In addition, NF-κB, TNF-α and SOX17 are among other molecular pathways regulating miRNA/SOX2 axis in cancer. Noteworthy, anti-cancer compounds including bufalin and ovatodiolide are suggested to regulate miRNA/SOX2 axis in cancers. The translation of current findings to clinical course can pave the way to effective treatment of cancer patients and improve their prognosis.

NF‐κB as a regulator of cancer metastasis and therapy response: A focus on epithelial–mesenchymal transition

“…Up to 20,000 proteins can be encoded by the genome, but this only comprises 2% of whole genome. Therefore, substantial part of the is not transcribed into proteins (Ashrafizadeh, Najafi, Mohammadinejad et al, 2020; Mirzaei, Saebfar et al, 2021). These parts that do not encode proteins are known as noncoding RNAs and miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA belong to this group (Pandya et al, 2020).…”

Chitosan‐based nanoscale systems for doxorubicin delivery: Exploring biomedical application in cancer therapy

“…Another nucleic acid therapeutic approach is to affect the expression level of microRNAs (miRNAs), as their aberrant expression mediates initiation, development, and progression of various cancers. 206 , 207 , 208 , 209 , 210 , 211 , 212 The downregulation of miRNA‐34a is observed in breast tumor and promoting its expression could be beneficial in impairing tumor progression. CS‐based nanocarriers can provide co‐delivery of DOX and miRNA‐34a in breast tumor suppression.…”

“…205 Another nucleic acid therapeutic approach is to affect the expression level of microRNAs (miRNAs), as their aberrant expression mediates initiation, development, and progression of various cancers. [206][207][208][209][210][211][212] The downregulation of miRNA-34a is observed in breast tumor and promoting its expression could be beneficial in Furthermore, CS provides a site for conjugation to ligands to selectively target receptors overexpressed on tumor cells. 183,[186][187][188][189][190] These benefits advocate application of CS-based nano-scale delivery systems for DOX chemotherapy.…”

Noncoding RNAs and their therapeutics in paclitaxel chemotherapy: Mechanisms of initiation, progression, and drug sensitivity

“…This research was related to Caemorhabditis elegans and further experiment detected other miRNA genes in various species, including human. Consequently, miRNAs were established as small regulatory RNAs with length of 19–24 nucleotides with presence in both intergenic and intragenic sections of genome (Ambros, Bartel, et al, 2003; Mirzaei, Saebfar, et al, 2021; Mirzaei, Zarrabi, et al, 2021). These endogenous noncoding RNAs are capable of gene downregulation (Indrieri, Carrella, et al, 2020).…”