miRNA与肿瘤——表观遗传学新进展

miRNA and neoplasm:advance in epigenetics

鉴于microRNA(miRNA)在基因转录后调控中的作用,其与肿瘤发生的关系已日益受到重视。表观遗传学是研究"没有DNA序列变化的、可遗传的基因表达改变"的学科。miRNA与表观遗传修饰的关系可理解为包含miRNA调控的RNA修饰属于广义的表观遗传修饰的范畴;作为表观遗传修饰手段的DNA甲基化和组蛋白乙酰化本身很可能是对miRNA水平进行调控的机制之一。对miRNA表达谱及功能的分析显示,一些miRNA标志物与肿瘤的诊断、分期、进展、预后及对治疗的反应性密切相关,从而为肿瘤的基因诊断和治疗提供了新的思路和手段。

Due to the role in post-transcriptional control, microRNA（miRNA） and its relationship with neoplasms have been attaching increasingly greater importance. Epigenetics is a discipline on ＂ heritable gene expression changes without alteration of DNA sequence＂. The relationship between miRNA and epigenetic modification exists in two ways. Firstly, miRNA regulation is included in the board definition of epigenetic modification. Secondly, the level of miRNA itself is probably regulated by epigenetic modification such as DNA methylation and histone modification, miRNA signatures of neoplasms have been identified, which are associated with diagnosis, staging, progression, prognosis and response to treatment. This may be a new access to the diagnosis and treatment for neoplasms.