miRNAs affect the development of hepatocellular carcinoma via dysregulation of their biogenesis and expression

Abstract

The pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not fully understood, which has affected the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC and the survival time of patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of evolutionarily conserved small, non-coding RNAs, which regulate the expression of various genes post-transcriptionally. Emerging evidence indicates that the key enzymes involved in the miRNA biosynthesis pathway and some tumor-specific miRNAs are widely deregulated or upregulated in HCC and closely associated with the occurrence and development of various cancers, including HCC. Early studies have shown that miRNAs have critical roles in HCC progression by targeting many critical protein-coding genes, thereby contributing to the promotion of cell proliferation; the avoidance of apoptosis, inducing via angiogenesis; and the activation of invasion and metastasis pathways. Experimental data indicate that discovery of increasing numbers of aberrantly expressed miRNAs has opened up a new field for investigating the molecular mechanism of HCC progression. In this review, we describe the current knowledge about the roles and validated targets of miRNAs in the above pathways that are known to be hallmarks of HCC, and we also describe the influence of genetic variations in miRNA biosynthesis and genes.

High expression of micro RNA-135A in hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with recurrence within 12 months after resection

“…Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs involved in several physiological and pathological processes, such as cell growth and differentiation, inflammation, and carcinogenesis by regulating gene expression on a post-transcriptional level [5, 6]. Initially, miRNAs are transcribed as primary miRNAs, processed into precursor miRNAs, and exported to the cytoplasm to form small miRNA duplexes.…”

Let-7 inhibits self-renewal of hepatocellular cancer stem-like cells through regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the Wnt signaling pathway

“…MiRNAs are found to be deregulated in most malignancies, affecting carcinogenesis, progression, metastasis and tumor recurrence. In HCC, it has been reported that aberrant expression of let-7 miRNAs contributed to the development and progression of HCC [5, 6]. …”

The Association Between Three Genetic Variants in MicroRNAs (Rs11614913, Rs2910164, Rs3746444) and Prostate Cancer Risk

“…Previous researches have shown evidence that miRNAs are involved in various crucial biological processes through imperfect pairing with target mRNAs of protein-coding genes [37,38]. Meta-analysis is used to combine the results based on individual research to yield summary conclusions, especially when results from single case-control studies were incomprehensive and conflicting.…”