Genetic polymorphisms and microRNAs: new direction in molecular epidemiology of solid cancer

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, which regulate gene expression. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may occur in miRNA biogenesis pathway genes, primary miRNA, pre-miRNA or a mature miRNA sequence. Such polymorphisms may be functional with respect to biogenesis and actions of mature miRNA. Specific SNPs were identified in predicted miRNA target sites within 3′ untranslated regions of mRNAs. These SNPs have a potential to affect the efficiency of miRNA binding to the target sites or can create or disrupt binding sites. Resulting gene dysregulation may involve changes in phenotype and may eventually prove critical for the susceptibility to cancer and its onset as well as for estimates of prognosis and therapy response. In this review, we provide a comprehensive list of potentially functional miRNA-related SNPs and summarize their importance as candidate cancer biomarkers.

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Most cited references 60

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Targeting microRNAs in cancer: rationale, strategies and challenges.

Ramiro Garzon, Guido Marcucci, Carlo Croce (2010)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Early studies have shown that miRNA expression is deregulated in cancer and experimental data indicate that cancer phenotypes can be modified by targeting miRNA expression. Based on these observations, miRNA-based anticancer therapies are being developed, either alone or in combination with current targeted therapies, with the goal to improve disease response and increase cure rates. The advantage of using miRNA approaches is based on its ability to concurrently target multiple effectors of pathways involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and survival. In this Review, we describe the role of miRNAs in tumorigenesis and critically discuss the rationale, the strategies and the challenges for the therapeutic targeting of miRNAs in cancer.

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Soraya Yekta, I-Hung Shih, David Bartel (2004)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous approximately 22-nucleotide RNAs, some of which are known to play important regulatory roles in animals by targeting the messages of protein-coding genes for translational repression. We find that miR-196, a miRNA encoded at three paralogous locations in the A, B, and C mammalian HOX clusters, has extensive, evolutionarily conserved complementarity to messages of HOXB8, HOXC8, and HOXD8. RNA fragments diagnostic of miR-196-directed cleavage of HOXB8 were detected in mouse embryos. Cell culture experiments demonstrated down-regulation of HOXB8, HOXC8, HOXD8, and HOXA7 and supported the cleavage mechanism for miR-196-directed repression of HOXB8. These results point to a miRNA-mediated mechanism for the posttranscriptional restriction of HOX gene expression during vertebrate development and demonstrate that metazoan miRNAs can repress expression of their natural targets through mRNA cleavage in addition to inhibiting productive translation.

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Genetic variation in microRNA networks: the implications for cancer research.

Bríd M. Ryan, Ana I Robles, Curtis C Harris … (2010)

Many studies have highlighted the role that microRNAs have in physiological processes and how their deregulation can lead to cancer. More recently, it has been proposed that the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in microRNA genes, their processing machinery and target binding sites affects cancer risk, treatment efficacy and patient prognosis. In reviewing this new field of cancer biology, we describe the methodological approaches of these studies and make recommendations for which strategies will be most informative in the future.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Cell Mol Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J. Cell. Mol. Med

Journal ID (publisher-id): jcmm

Title: Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (Oxford, UK )

ISSN (Print): 1582-1838

ISSN (Electronic): 1582-4934

Publication date (Print): January 2012

Publication date (Electronic): 29 December 2011

Volume: 16

Issue: 1

Pages: 8-21

Affiliations

[a ]Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Department of Comprehensive Cancer Care Brno, Czech Republic

[b ]Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic

[c ]Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic

[d ]Clinic of Paediatric Oncology, University affiliated Hospital Brno Czech Republic

Author notes

*Ondrej SLABY, Ph.D., Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Department of Comprehensive Cancer Care, Zluty kopec 7, 656 53 Brno, Czech Republic. Tel.: +420 5 4313 6902 Fax: +420 5 4313 6902 E-mail: slaby@ 123456mou.cz

Article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2011.01359.x

PMC ID: 3823089

PubMed ID: 21692980

SO-VID: f9acd79d-a827-4720-9a50-f50efd1c07fc

History

Date received : 29 January 2011

Date accepted : 12 June 2011

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