MicroRNAs in pancreatic cancer: Their biogenesis, roles and diagnosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESPancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancers. Cancer is the result of aberrant gene expression that affects various cell signaling pathways. Therefore, it can be said that the discovery of microRNAs, which are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a role in regulating gene expression, has provided a new opportunity to study this disease.MATERIALS AND METHODSDuring miRNA biogenesis, miRNAs are subject to intense transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, and the elucidation of these mechanisms has improved our understanding of miRNA deregulation in disease. MiRNA genes are often located at genomic regions associated with cancer and also several researchers reported that abnormal expression of miRNA genes has been associated with cancer. Several experiments and clinic analysis suggest that miRNAs may function as a novel class of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, so they have been identified to act as tumor suppressors or as oncogenes based on their modulating effect on the expression of their target genes. Pancreatic cancer impinges profoundly on mankind and, is one of the most aggressive and fatal malignancies. A real-time, quantitative PCR assay was used to profile the expression of over ۲۰۰ miRNA precursors in clinical specimens of pancreatic cancer and pancreatic cancer cell lines.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONPancreatic cancer is one of the worst-looking solid tumors, due to usually the late diagnosis and lack of effective therapy. Identification of markers characteristic of individual cancer phenotypes is strategic for early diagnosis and the use of effective therapeutic methods. Given that miRNAs are markers of the metabolic state, they can be used as a potent tool to monitor cancer progression and the effectiveness of cancer therapeutic.CONCLUSIONUnderstanding the roles of miRNAs can have a great beneficial impact on the early detection, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Continuing research about their roles may bring new possibilities for anticancer therapy of this fatal disease.

کلیدواژه ها:

MicroRNA ، Gene regulation ، Pancreatic cancer ، Biogenesis ، Diagnosis ، Biomarkers