Abstract
Skin cancer is, at present, the most common type of malignancy in the Caucasian population. Its incidence has increased rapidly in the last decade for both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. Differential expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported for a variety of different cancers, including skin cancers. Since miRNAs’ discovery as regulators of gene expression, their importance grew in the field of oncology. miRNAs can post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression, tumor initiation, development progression, and aggressiveness. Nowadays, these short regulatory RNAs are perceived as one of the epigenetic markers for the identification of new diagnostic and/or prognostic molecular markers. Moreover, as miRNAs can drive tumorigenesis, they might eventually represent new therapy targets. Some miRNAs are pleiotropic, such as miR-214, which was found deregulated in several other tumors besides skin cancers. Some others are specific for one or more skin cancer types, like miR-21 and miR-221 for cutaneous melanoma and cutaneous squamous carcinoma or miR-155 for melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma. The goal of this review was to summarize some of the main miRNA detection technologies that are used to evaluate miRNAs in tissues and body fluids. Furthermore, their quantification limits, conformity, and robustness are discussed. Aberrant miRNA expression is analyzed for cutaneous melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), skin lymphomas, cutaneous lymphoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). In this type of disease, miRNAs are described as potential biomarkers to diagnose early lesion and/or early metastatic disease. In the future, whether in tissue or circulating in body fluids, miRNAs will gain their place in skin cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and future therapeutic targets.
Highlights
In the last decade, the dramatic increase of diseases that are linked to changes in RNA modifications has shown that the epitranscriptomic domain will impact health science
MiR-369 directs the association of Argonaute (AGO2) protein and fragile X mental retardationrelated protein 1 (FXR1) with AU-rich elements (AREs) in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) messenger RNA (mRNA) to activate translation (Vasudevan et al, 2007)
MiRNAs have been shown to inhibit mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (MT-COX1) protein expression while increasing MT-COX2 mRNA expression (Das et al, 2012). miRNAs that are localized in the nucleus can inhibit the maturation of other miRNAs via direct interaction with the primary transcript, an interaction that can lead to hindering apoptosis
Summary
The dramatic increase of diseases that are linked to changes in RNA modifications has shown that the epitranscriptomic domain will impact health science. As detailed further, have shown that, using this technology for miRNA discovery in melanoma, new miRNA panels were identified associated with clinical patient prognosis (Jayawardana et al, 2016). Several areas study miRNAs in melanoma: in the accurate differentiation between other skin cancers, in developing new therapeutic targets, and in evaluating the prognostic and diagnostic potential of these molecules.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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 call
