Abstract

MicroRNA (miRNA) is an important type of non-coding RNAs with both physiological and pathological functions in human beings. Aberrant expression of miRNAs has been found in tumor tissues and the expression profile of certain groups of miRNAs is now emerging as bio-marker for cancer. It has been confirmed that miRNAs can exert oncogenic or tumor-suppressive functions through repressing the expression of their target genes which play different roles in tumorigenesis. The identification of oncogenic or tumor-suppressive miRNAs allows potential applications of these miRNAs as targets for cancer chemotherapy. In this review, we summarized the well-known cancer-related miRNAs reported in recent years and the roles they played in tumorigenesis and progression by targeting specific genes. Strategies developed to modulate the function or expression of the dysregulated miRNAs are also reviewed with recent examples illustrating their potential applications in cancer chemotherapy.

Keywords: MicroRNA, oncogenic, tumor-suppressive, up-regulation, down-regulation, tumorigenesis, cancer chemotherapy.