Development of MicroRNAs as Potential Therapeutics against Cancer

Noraini Abd-Aziz; Nur Izyani Kamaruzman; Chit Laa Poh

doi:10.1155/2020/8029721

Development of MicroRNAs as Potential Therapeutics against Cancer

J Oncol. 2020 Jul 15:2020:8029721. doi: 10.1155/2020/8029721. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Noraini Abd-Aziz¹, Nur Izyani Kamaruzman², Chit Laa Poh¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research (CVVR), Sunway University, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that function at the posttranscriptional level in the cellular regulation process. miRNA expression exerts vital effects on cell growth such as cell proliferation and survival. In cancers, miRNAs have been shown to initiate carcinogenesis, where overexpression of oncogenic miRNAs (oncomiRs) or reduced expression of tumor suppressor miRNAs has been reported. In this review, we discuss the involvement of miRNAs in tumorigenesis, the role of synthetic miRNAs as either mimics or antagomirs to overcome cancer growth, miRNA delivery, and approaches to enhance their therapeutic potentials.

Publication types

Review