Involvement of MicroRNAs in Human Cancer: Discovery and Expression Profiling

Abstract

The initial discovery of the involvement of two microRNAs, miR-15a and miR-16-1, in human CLL opened the way to the myriad of studies that have now conclusively proved the central role of microRNAs in all human cancers. Gene expression studies revealed that hundreds of microRNAs are deregulated in cancer cells and functional studies clarified that microRNAs are involved in all the molecular and biological processes that drive tumorigenesis. These findings have greatly improved our understanding on the molecular basis of cancer and, even more importantly, laid the foundation for the exploitation of microRNAs in cancer therapy.