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MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. miRNAs base-pair to complementary sequences in mRNA molecules, then silence said mRNA molecules by one or more of the following processes:
- Cleavage of the mRNA strand into two pieces,
- Destabilization of the mRNA by shortening its poly(A) tail, or
- Reducing translation of the mRNA into proteins.
A neoplasm is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists in growing abnormally, even if the original trigger is removed. This abnormal growth usually forms a mass, which may be called a tumour or tumor.
MSH6 or mutS homolog 6 is a gene that codes for DNA mismatch repair protein Msh6 in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is the homologue of the human "G/T binding protein," (GTBP) also called p160 or hMSH6. The MSH6 protein is a member of the Mutator S (MutS) family of proteins that are involved in DNA damage repair.
In molecular biology, miR-130 microRNA precursor is a small non-coding RNA that regulates gene expression. This microRNA has been identified in mouse, and in human. miR-130 appears to be vertebrate-specific miRNA and has now been predicted or experimentally confirmed in a range of vertebrate species. Mature microRNAs are processed from the precursor stem-loop by the Dicer enzyme. In this case, the mature sequence is excised from the 3' arm of the hairpin. It has been found that miR-130 is upregulated in a type of cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma. It has been shown that miR-130a is expressed in the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell compartment but not in mature blood cells.
miR-122 is a miRNA that is conserved among vertebrate species. miR-122 is not present in invertebrates, and no close paralogs of miR-122 have been detected. miR-122 is highly expressed in the liver, where it has been implicated as a regulator of fatty-acid metabolism in mouse studies. Reduced miR-122 levels are associated with hepatocellular carcinoma. miR-122 also plays an important positive role in the regulation of hepatitis C virus replication.
mir-127 microRNA is a short non-coding RNA molecule with interesting overlapping gene structure. miR-127 functions to regulate the expression levels of genes involved in lung development, placental formation and apoptosis. Aberrant expression of miR-127 has been linked to different cancers.
In molecular biology mir-143 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms. mir–143 is highly conserved in vertebrates. mir-143 is thought be involved in cardiac morphogenesis but has also been implicated in cancer.
In molecular biology miR-203 is a short non-coding RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms, such as translational repression and Argonaute-catalyzed messenger RNA cleavage. miR-203 has been identified as a skin-specific microRNA, and it forms an expression gradient that defines the boundary between proliferative epidermal basal progenitors and terminally differentiating suprabasal cells. It has also been found upregulated in psoriasis and differentially expressed in some types of cancer.
In molecular biology mir-22 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs are an abundant class of molecules, approximately 22 nucleotides in length, which can post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by binding to the 3' UTR of mRNAs expressed in a cell.
miR-31 has been characterised as a tumour suppressor miRNA, with its levels varying in breast cancer cells according to the metastatic state of the tumour. From its typical abundance in healthy tissue is a moderate decrease in non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines, and levels are almost completely absent in mouse and human metastatic breast cancer cell lines. Mir-31-5p has also been observed upregulated in Zinc Deficient rats compared to normal in ESCC and in other types of cancers when using this animal model. There has also been observed a strong encapsulation of tumour cells expressing miR-31, as well as a reduced cell survival rate. miR-31's antimetastatic effects therefore make it a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer. However, these two papers were formally retracted by the authors in 2015.
In molecular biology, mir-221 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms.
Cancer epigenetics is the study of epigenetic modifications to the DNA of cancer cells that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence, but instead involve a change in the way the genetic code is expressed. Epigenetic mechanisms are necessary to maintain normal sequences of tissue specific gene expression and are crucial for normal development. They may be just as important, if not even more important, than genetic mutations in a cell's transformation to cancer. The disturbance of epigenetic processes in cancers, can lead to a loss of expression of genes that occurs about 10 times more frequently by transcription silencing than by mutations. As Vogelstein et al. points out, in a colorectal cancer there are usually about 3 to 6 driver mutations and 33 to 66 hitchhiker or passenger mutations. However, in colon tumors compared to adjacent normal-appearing colonic mucosa, there are about 600 to 800 heavily methylated CpG islands in the promoters of genes in the tumors while these CpG islands are not methylated in the adjacent mucosa. Manipulation of epigenetic alterations holds great promise for cancer prevention, detection, and therapy. In different types of cancer, a variety of epigenetic mechanisms can be perturbed, such as the silencing of tumor suppressor genes and activation of oncogenes by altered CpG island methylation patterns, histone modifications, and dysregulation of DNA binding proteins. There are several medications which have epigenetic impact, that are now used in a number of these diseases.
In molecular biology mir-301 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms.
In molecular biology mir-552 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms. Researchers have detected elevated levels of mir-522 expression in colorectal cancer metastases.
In molecular biology mir-190 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function is to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms.
In molecular biology mir-216 microRNA is a short RNA molecule. MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms.
mir-615 microRNA is a short non-coding RNA molecule belonging both to the family of microRNAs and to that of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms, whilst siRNAs are involved primarily with the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. siRNAs have been linked through some members to the regulation of cancer cell growth, specifically in prostate adenocarcinoma.
mir-618 microRNA is a short non-coding RNA molecule belonging both to the family of microRNAs and to that of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). MicroRNAs function to regulate the expression levels of other genes by several mechanisms, whilst siRNAs are involved primarily with the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway.
DNA methylation in cancer plays a variety of roles, helping to change the healthy cells by regulation of gene expression to a cancer cells or a diseased cells disease pattern. One of the most widely studied DNA methylation dysregulation is the promoter hypermethylation where the CPGs islands in the promoter regions are methylated contributing or causing genes to be silenced.
References
- ↑ Sarver AL, French AJ, Borralho PM, Thayanithy V, Oberg AL, Silverstein KA, et al. (2009). "Human colon cancer profiles show differential microRNA expression depending on mismatch repair status and are characteristic of undifferentiated proliferative states". BMC Cancer. 9: 401. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-9-401 . PMC 2787532 . PMID 19922656.
- ↑ Oberg AL, French AJ, Sarver AL, Subramanian S, Morlan BW, Riska SM, et al. (2011). "miRNA expression in colon polyps provides evidence for a multihit model of colon cancer". PLOS ONE. 6 (6): e20465. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...620465O. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020465 . PMC 3111419 . PMID 21694772.
