MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNAs that regulate gene expression. Expression
profiles of specific miRNAs have improved cancer diagnosis and classification as well
as provided prognostic information in many human cancers, including lung cancer. Tumor-suppressive
and oncogenic miRNAs were uncovered in lung carcinogenesis. The biological functions
of these miRNAs in lung cancer were validated recently in well-characterized cellular,
murine transgenic as well as transplantable lung cancer models, and in human paired
normal-malignant lung tissue banks and tissue arrays. Tumor-suppressive and oncogenic
miRNAs that were identified in lung cancer will be reviewed here. Emphasis is placed
on highlighting those functionally validated miRNAs that are not only biomarkers of
lung carcinogenesis but also candidate pharmacologic targets. How these miRNA findings
advance an understanding of lung cancer biology and how they could improve lung cancer
therapy are discussed in this article.
Abbreviations:
ISH (in situ hybridization), LATS2 (large tumor suppressor 2), LNA (locked nucleic acid), miRNAs (microRNAs), NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer), pre-miRNA (precursor miRNA), PPP2R2A (PP2A regulatory subunit B alpha isoform), pri-miRNAs (primary miRNAs), RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex), SCLC (small cell lung cancer)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 07, 2011
Accepted:
January 4,
2011
Received in revised form:
January 3,
2011
Received:
November 30,
2010
Footnotes
Supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grants R01-CA087546, R01-CA111422, R03-CA130102, RO3-CA141564, a Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation award, a grant from the American Lung Association, an American Cancer Society Institutional grant, a grant from The Mary Jo’s Fund to Fight Cancer/Uniting Against Lung Cancer, and an AACR-Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Cancer Development Award.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
