MicroRNA's Potential in Human Cancer as Therapeutic Targets and Novel Biomarkers

2022 ◽  
pp. 85-112
Author(s):  
Loutfy H. Madkour
Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 739
Author(s):  
Taeju Park

Crk and CrkL are cellular counterparts of the viral oncoprotein v-Crk. Crk and CrkL are overexpressed in many types of human cancer, correlating with poor prognosis. Furthermore, gene knockdown and knockout of Crk and CrkL in tumor cell lines suppress tumor cell functions, including cell proliferation, transformation, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, resistance to chemotherapy drugs, and in vivo tumor growth and metastasis. Conversely, overexpression of tumor cells with Crk or CrkL enhances tumor cell functions. Therefore, Crk and CrkL have been proposed as therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. However, it is unclear whether Crk and CrkL make distinct or overlapping contributions to tumor cell functions in various cancer types because Crk or CrkL have been examined independently in most studies. Two recent studies using colorectal cancer and glioblastoma cells clearly demonstrated that Crk and CrkL need to be ablated individually and combined to understand distinct and overlapping roles of the two proteins in cancer. A comprehensive understanding of individual and overlapping roles of Crk and CrkL in tumor cell functions is necessary to develop effective therapeutic strategies. This review systematically discusses crucial functions of Crk and CrkL in tumor cell functions and provides new perspectives on targeting Crk and CrkL in cancer therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Xiang Ao ◽  
Guoqiang Ji ◽  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Wanpeng Yu ◽  
...  

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of digestive systems worldwide, with high recurrence and mortality. Chemotherapy is still the standard treatment option for GC and can effectively improve the survival and life quality of GC patients. However, with the emergence of drug resistance, the clinical application of chemotherapeutic agents has been seriously restricted in GC patients. Although the mechanisms of drug resistance have been broadly investigated, they are still largely unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large group of small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) widely involved in the occurrence and progression of many cancer types, including GC. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that miRNAs may play crucial roles in the development of drug resistance by regulating some drug resistance-related proteins as well as gene expression. Some also exhibit great potential as novel biomarkers for predicting drug response to chemotherapy and therapeutic targets for GC patients. In this review, we systematically summarize recent advances in miRNAs and focus on their molecular mechanisms in the development of drug resistance in GC progression. We also highlight the potential of drug resistance-related miRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for GC patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 6009
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Anna Krawczyk ◽  
Agata Pospieszynska ◽  
Małgorzata Styczewska ◽  
Ewa Bien ◽  
Sambor Sawicki ◽  
...  

Exosomal heat shock proteins (Hsps) are involved in intercellular communication both in physiological and pathological conditions. They play a role in key processes of carcinogenesis including immune system regulation, cell differentiation, vascular homeostasis and metastasis formation. Thus, exosomal Hsps are emerging biomarkers of malignancies and possible therapeutic targets. Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are patients aged 15–39 years. This age group, placed between pediatric and adult oncology, pose a particular challenge for cancer management. New biomarkers of cancer growth and progression as well as prognostic factors are desperately needed in AYAs. In this review, we attempted to summarize the current knowledge on the role of exosomal Hsps in selected solid tumors characteristic for the AYA population and/or associated with poor prognosis in this age group. These included malignant melanoma, brain tumors, and breast, colorectal, thyroid, hepatocellular, lung and gynecological tract carcinomas. The studies on exosomal Hsps in these tumors are limited; however; some have provided promising results. Although further research is needed, there is potential for future clinical applications of exosomal Hsps in AYA cancers, both as novel biomarkers of disease presence, progression or relapse, or as therapeutic targets or tools for drug delivery.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 100207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Rezanur Rahman ◽  
Tania Islam ◽  
Md. Abdullah Al-Mamun ◽  
Toyfiquz Zaman ◽  
Md. Rezaul Karim ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella Massimini ◽  
Mariarita Romanucci ◽  
Raffaella De Maria ◽  
Leonardo Della Salda

Canine tumors are valuable comparative models for human counterparts, especially to explore novel biomarkers and to understand pathways and processes involved in metastasis. Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a unique property of malignant cancer cells which promote metastasis. Thus, it represents an opportunity to investigate both the molecular mechanisms and the therapeutic targets of a crucial phenotypic malignant switch. Although this biological process has been largely investigated in different human cancer types, including osteosarcoma, it is still largely unknown in veterinary pathology, where it has been mainly explored in canine mammary tumors. The presence of VM in human osteosarcoma is associated with poor clinical outcome, reduced patient survival, and increased risk of metastasis and it shares the main pathways involved in other type of human tumors. This review illustrates the main findings concerning the VM process in human osteosarcoma, search for the related current knowledge in canine pathology and oncology, and potential involvement of multiple pathways in VM formation, in order to provide a basis for future investigations on VM in canine tumors.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-rong Yan ◽  
Ang Wang ◽  
Zhi Lv ◽  
Yuan Yuan ◽  
Qian Xu

Abstract BackgroundMitochondria-nuclear cross talk and mitochondrial retrograde regulation are involved in the genesis and development of breast cancer (BC). Therefore, mitochondria can be regarded as a promising target for BC therapeutic strategies. In the present study, we aimed to construct regulating network and seek the potential biomarkers of BC diagnosis, prognosis and also the molecular therapeutic targets from the perspective of mitochondrial dysfunction. MethodsThe microarray data of mitochondria-related encoding genes of BC were downloaded from GEO including GSE128610 and GSE72319. GSE128610 was treated as test set and validation sets consisted of GSE72319 and TCGA, which were used for identifying mitochondria-related differential expressed genes (mrDEGs). We performed enrichment analysis, PPI network, hub mrDEGs, and overall survival analysis and constructed transcription factor (TF)-miRNA-hub mrDEGs network. ResultsA total of 23 up-regulated and 71 down-regulated mrDEGs were identified and validated. Enrichment analyses indicated that mrDEGs were associated with several cancer-related biological processes, Moreover, 9 hub mrDEGs were identified and validated in tissues. Finally, 5 hub coregulated mrDEGs, 21 miRNA and 117 TF were used to construct TF-miRNA-hub mrDEGs network. MAZ, HDGF and SP2 could regulate 3 hub mrDEGs. hsa-mir-21-5p, hsa-mir-1-3p, hsa-mir-218-5p, hsa-mir-26a-5p, and hsa-mir-335-5p regulated 2 hub mrDEGs. Overall survival analysis suggested that the up-regulated FN1 and down-regulated DDR2 conferred to poor BC prognosis. ConclusionTF-miRNA-hub mrDEGs has instruction significance for the etiology exploration of BC. The identified hub mrDEGs, such as FN1 and DDR2, were likely to regulate mitochondrial function and might be novel biomarkers of BC diagnosis and prognosis as well as the therapeutic targets.


eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mannu K Walia ◽  
Patricia MW Ho ◽  
Scott Taylor ◽  
Alvin JM Ng ◽  
Ankita Gupte ◽  
...  

Mutations in the P53 pathway are a hallmark of human cancer. The identification of pathways upon which p53-deficient cells depend could reveal therapeutic targets that may spare normal cells with intact p53. In contrast to P53 point mutations in other cancer, complete loss of P53 is a frequent event in osteosarcoma (OS), the most common cancer of bone. The consequences of p53 loss for osteoblastic cells and OS development are poorly understood. Here we use murine OS models to demonstrate that elevated Pthlh (Pthrp), cAMP levels and signalling via CREB1 are characteristic of both p53-deficient osteoblasts and OS. Normal osteoblasts survive depletion of both PTHrP and CREB1. In contrast, p53-deficient osteoblasts and OS depend upon continuous activation of this pathway and undergo proliferation arrest and apoptosis in the absence of PTHrP or CREB1. Our results identify the PTHrP-cAMP-CREB1 axis as an attractive pathway for therapeutic inhibition in OS.


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