Epigenetic regulation of miRNAs in CRC

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the world. Genetic and epigenetic variations are involved in the initiation and progression of CRC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs which act as crucial gene expression regulators and play an important function in various physiological and pathophysiological processes including angiogenesis, proliferation, apoptosis differentiation, and metastasis. MiRNAs expression is dysregulated in CRC by abnormal CpGs methylation and or histone modifications. The aim of this mini-review is to study the promoter methylation status of miRNAs and association between miRNA expression level and promoter methylation as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker in CRC. Several studies have shown miRNA promoter methylation in CRC. To date, many of these miRNAs seem to be hypermethylated and serve as tumor suppressors that are epigenetically silenced. Moreover, abnormalities of miRNA expression are often observed in CRC and appear to play an important role in tumor development and progression. It seems epigenetic alterations occur in the early stages of cancer hence, methylation status evaluation of miRNAs promoter region would be a useful approach to finding epigenetic biomarkers in CRC.

کلیدواژه ها:

Colorectal cancer ، MicroRNA ، Epigenetics