MicroRNA在肿瘤EMT调控中的作用

The role of microRNA in regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in tumorigenesis

MicroRNA（miRNA）是一类长度约19-25个核苷酸的小分子非编码RNA，通过翻译抑制或MRNA降解发挥转录后水平调控基因表达。研究表明，miRNA在上皮细胞-间充质转化（EMT）调控中发挥关键的角色。 EMT是上皮细胞通过特定程序转化为具有间质表型细胞的生物学过程，上皮细胞黏附分子如E-钙粘素等表达减少或缺失，细胞失去极性；细胞具有间充质特征，获得了较高的迁移与侵袭能力，间质特征性分子，如Twist、Snail、Slug和Vimentin 等表达增高。近年来发现，miRNA 参与调控肿瘤细胞发生EMT改变。本文着重对EMT形成过程中miRNA的作用进行扼要综述。此外，回顾分析各种肿瘤中MiRNA的角色，靶向miRNA可能会成为癌症治疗的新型策略。

MicroRNA （miRNA） are kinds of small noncoding RNA molecules with about 19-25 nucleotides which regulate the post-transcriptionally gene expression via translational inhibition or mRNA degradation. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that miRNAs play a pivotal role in regulation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition （EMT）. EMT is the biological process that epithelial cells transform to mesenchymal cells through specific procedure. During EMT, epithelial cells lose epithelial characteristics such as loss of E-cadherin, whereas cells gain mesenchymal features including enhance cell migration and invasion, and increase expression of mesenchymal markers such as Twist, Snail, Slug, and Vimentin. Since MiRNAs were critically involved in regulating EMT, this review briefly describes the role of MiRNAs in the processes of EMT. Moreover, here we provide an overview of miRNAs in a variety of human cancers. Furthermore, targeting miRNAs may be a novel strategy for the treatment of human cancers.