Abstract
Cancer stem cells are defined as a subpopulation of cells within a tumor that are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into the heterogeneous cell lineages that comprise the tumor. Many studies indicate that cancer stem cells may be responsible for treatment failure and relapse in cancer patients. The factors that regulate cancer stem cells are not well defined. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate translational repression and transcript degradation. miRNAs play a critical role in embryonic and inducible pluripotent stem cell regulation and emerging evidence supports their role in cancer stem cell evolution. To date, miRNAs have been shown to act either as tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in driving critical gene expression pathways in cancer stem cells in a wide range of human malignancies, including hematopoietic and epithelial tumors and sarcomas. miRNAs involved in cancer stem cell regulation provide attractive, novel therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. This review attempts to summarize progress to date in defining the role of miRNAs in cancer stem cells.
Highlights
MicroRNAs are a group of small (~18–25 nucleotide) non-protein encoding RNAs that have recently been established as important regulators of gene expression, through which they play critical roles in cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis
These factors appear to engage in cross-talk with miRNAs, leading to coordinated regulation in embryonic stem cells; studies in these cells suggest that miRNAs are part of a core regulatory program that permits pluripotency, self-renewal, and differentiation [32]
The messenger RNAs (mRNA) and miRNAs are delivered by the microvesicles to recipient cells, where they can be translated into proteins [58,59] or potentially trigger epigenetic reprogramming
Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small (~18–25 nucleotide) non-protein encoding RNAs that have recently been established as important regulators of gene expression, through which they play critical roles in cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the effects of miRNAs on gene expression have significant implications for development and oncogenesis. Cancer stem cells (CSC) are defined as a group of cells within the tumor that have the capacity to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell types [7,8] As such, they have the potential to regenerate tumors after therapy and seed distant metastases; CSCs appear critical to development of treatment failure [9]. They have the potential to regenerate tumors after therapy and seed distant metastases; CSCs appear critical to development of treatment failure [9] These observations are driving a significant effort to identify therapeutic targets within the cancer stem cell population. The interplay between markers of cancer stem cell populations and miRNAs may have significant implications for targeting the stem cell niche for therapeutic purposes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
